text: Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/4

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text: Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/3


text: Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/2


text: Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/1


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Benese, Richard


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Benet (1563-1611)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Benet (d.1226)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ben Israel, Manasseh


text: Talk:Ekottarikāgama 17.1: Ānāpānasmṛti

title: Talk:Ekottarikāgama 17.1: Ānāpānasmṛti


text: Talk:Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra

title: Talk:Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra


text:
Talk:Shorter Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra

Translation history should state translated from what to what and when and also subsequent chain of translations leading to the English basis of this translation. IMHO. Geofferybard (talk) 23:49, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Implementation of policy - notice of intent
It looks like there should be a separate Lapis Luzi translation and also a Wikisource translation so IMHO what needs to be done is that there needs to be a reversion of my edits to the LL translation and commencement of a new CCL 2.0 version.Geofferybard (talk) 22:34, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Need
Needs to be rolled back. I was in error by editing as this is the Lapis version. I don't seem to have the level of privilege to roll back my own edits. There is a separate Wikisource version. I have no right to change the LL version. Geofferybard (talk) 01:08, 17 February 2012 (UTC)


text: Talk:Longer Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra

title: Talk:Longer Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra


text:
Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Jeta Grove of Anāthapiṇḍada’s park, along with a great saṃgha of twelve hundred and fifty bhikṣus. All were great arhats well known to the assembly. Among them were Elder Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Mahākātyāyana, Mahākauṣṭhila, Revata, Śuddhipanthakena, Nanda, Ānanda, Rāhula, Gavāṃpati, Piṇḍolabhāradvāja, Kālodayin, Mahākapphiṇa, Vakkula, Aniruddha, and many other such great śrāvakas. With them were bodhisattva-mahāsattvas such as Dharma Prince Mañjuśrī, Ajita Bodhisattva, Gandhahastin Bodhisattva, Nityodyukta Bodhisattva, and many other such bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. There was also Śakra, Lord of the Devas, along with innumerable multitudes from all the heavens.

At that time, the Buddha addressed Elder Śāriputra, saying, “From here, going to the west past ten trillion buddha-lands, there is a world realm called Sukhāvatī. In this land there is a buddha called Amitābha who is presently expounding the Dharma. Śāriputra, for what reason is this land called Sukhāvatī? It is because in this land, all sentient beings do not have a multitude of afflictions, but rather experience every type of bliss. For this reason, it is called Sukhāvatī. Moreover, Śāriputra, this land is completely encircled and surrounded by seven tiers of railings, seven layers of netting, and seven rows of trees. They are all made of four kinds of precious jewels, and therefore this land is called Sukhāvatī.

“Moreover, Śāriputra, Sukhāvatī has pools of the Seven Precious Jewels, filled with waters of the Eight Meritorious Qualities, and the bottoms of these pools are pure because they are gold sand. On the four sides, there are steps made of combined gold, silver, beryl, and crystal. Above, there is a tower gloriously adorned with gold, silver, beryl, crystal, mother of pearl, ruby, and coral. Within the pools there are lotus flowers as large as chariot wheels. They shine with green, yellow, red, and white rays of light, and have a subtle fragrance. Śāriputra, Sukhāvatī is accomplished thusly, adorned with these merits and virtues.

“Moreover, Śāriputra, this buddha-land continuously produces heavenly music, and the ground is yellow gold. In the six periods of the day and night, the heavens rain down māndārava flowers. In this land throughout the clear morning, due to the precepts, all sentient beings have an abundant multitude of exquisite flowers. With these flowers, they make offerings to the ten trillion buddhas of the other directions. At mealtime, each returns to his original land to eat and walk about. Śāriputra, Sukhāvatī is accomplished thusly, adorned with these merits and virtues.

“Moreover, Śāriputra, this land always has all kinds of marvelous, many-colored birds: swans, peacocks, parrots, egrets, kalaviṅkas, and two-headed birds. There are many multitudes of birds, and in the six periods of the day and night, they produce harmonious music. Their music elucidates the Five Roots, the Five Powers, the Seven Factors of Bodhi, the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, and thusly the Dharma. In this land, all sentient beings who hear such sounds are altogether mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Saṃgha. Śāriputra, do not speak of such birds as truly produced as retribution for evil actions. For what reason? This buddha-land does not have the Three Evil Destinies. Śāriputra, in this buddha-land, there are not even the names of the Three Evil Destinies, let alone their actual existence. These many multitudes of birds were created by Amitābha Buddha by transformation, in order for the sound of the Dharma to be proclaimed everywhere. Śāriputra, in this buddha-land, a gentle breeze is expelled, causing the rows of jeweled trees and jeweled nets to produce subtle music, as though 100,000 notes were in harmony. The minds of all those who hear such sounds are naturally mindful of the Buddha, mindful of the Dharma, and mindful of the Saṃgha. Śāriputra, this buddha-land is accomplished thusly, adorned with these merits and virtues.

“Śāriputra, what do you think? For what reason is this buddha called Amitābha? Śāriputra, the radiance of this buddha is immeasurable, illuminating the lands of the ten directions with no obstruction. For this reason he is called Amitābha. Moreover, Śāriputra, the lifespan of this buddha extends for immeasurable, limitless eons. For this reason he is also called Amitāyus. Śāriputra, since Amitābha Buddha attained buddhahood, ten eons have passed. Moreover, Śāriputra, this buddha has innumerable, limitless śrāvaka disciples, all arhats with unfathomable true abilities and knowledge. The many bodhisattvas are also such as this. Śāriputra, this buddha-land is accomplished thusly, adorned with these merits and virtues.

“Moreover, Śāriputra, in the land of Sukhāvatī, all sentient beings are avaivartika. Those who have only one more birth are also extremely many, innumerable and inconceivable in number. Only in innumerable, limitless, incalculable eons could their number be spoken. Śāriputra, all sentient beings hearing this should vow to be born in this land. For what reason? When they gather thusly, many high and virtuous people are able to join together in one place. Śāriputra, those with few roots of goodness, and the causes of merits and virtues, may not attain birth in this land. Śāriputra, if there is a virtuous man or virtuous woman who hears and speaks ‘Amitābha Buddha,’ holding and maintaining his name for one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven days single-mindedly without confusion, then at the end of his or her life, Amitābha Buddha will appear with the multitude of holy beings. At the end of this person’s life, with a mind unconfused, he or she will quickly attain rebirth in Amitābha Buddha’s land of Sukhāvatī. Śāriputra, because I see this benefit, I speak these words: if there are sentient beings who hear this teaching, they should vow to be born in this land.

“Śāriputra, thus do I now praise and extoll the inconceivable merits and virtues of Amitābha Buddha. In the East there are also Akṣobhya Buddha, Appearance of Sumeru Buddha, Great Sumeru Buddha, Radiance of Sumeru Buddha, Wondrous Sound Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, in the southern world realm there are Lamp of the Sun and Moon Buddha, Renowned Radiance Buddha, Great Flaming Shoulders Buddha, Lamp of Sumeru Buddha, Immeasurable Vigor Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, in the western world realm there are Amitāyus Buddha, Innumerable Qualities Buddha, Immeasurable Banner Buddha, Great Radiance Buddha, Great Brilliance Buddha, Jeweled Characteristics Buddha, Clear Light Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, in the northern world realm there are Flaming Shoulders Buddha, Most Victorious Sound Buddha, Indestructible Buddha, Born of the Sun Buddha, Net of Brilliance Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, in the nadir world realm there are Lion Buddha, Renown Buddha, Renowned Radiance Buddha, Dharma Buddha, Dharma Banner Buddha, Dharma Maintainer Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, in the zenith world realm there are Brahma Sound Buddha, Constellation King Buddha, Fragrance Above Buddha, Fragrant Radiance Buddha, Great Flaming Shoulders Buddha, Assorted Jewel Flower Adorned Body Buddha, Sāla Tree King Buddha, Jewel Flowers of Virtue Buddha, Seeing Every Meaning Buddha, Sumeru Likeness Buddha, and thusly as many buddhas as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. Each in his own land sends out a broad and long tongue completely covering three thousand great thousand-worlds, speaking these true words: ‘All you sentient beings should believe this sūtra, which all buddhas praise for its inconceivable merit and virtue, and are truly protective and mindful of.’

“Śāriputra, with regard to the meaning, why is it called a sūtra that all buddhas are truly protective and mindful of? Śāriputra, if there are virtuous men and virtuous women who hear, accept, and maintain this sūtra, and hear the names of all these buddhas, these virtuous men and virtuous women will truly be protected and watched over by every buddha. In all cases they attain non-regression from Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. For this reason, Śāriputra, all of you should accept and believe my words, which are truly spoken by all buddhas.

“Śāriputra, if there are people who have already made the vow, who are making the vow presently, or who will make the vow to be born in the land of Amitābha Buddha, then these people all attain non-regression from Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. Whether in a past life, present life, or future life, they will be in this land. Śāriputra, it is for this reason that all virtuous men and virtuous women who believe this, should vow to be born in this land.

“Śāriputra, as I now praise the inconceivable merits and virtues of all buddhas thusly, they also speak of my inconceivable merits and virtues, saying: ‘Śākyamuni Buddha is able to accomplish what is extremely difficult and exceedingly rare! Within this Sahā Land, in the world of the five impurities — the impurity of the eon, the impurity of appearances, the impurity of afflictions, the impurity of sentient beings, and the impurity of life — he attains Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi and speaks this Dharma that is so difficult to believe!’ Śāriputra, understand that in the world of the five impurities, I perform this difficult task, attaining Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, and in every world speaking this Dharma that is difficult to believe, so very difficult!”

After the Buddha had spoken this sūtra, Śāriputra along with all the bhikṣus, as well as the devas, humans, and asuras from every world, heard what the Buddha had said. Blissfully believing and accepting, they paid their respects and departed.

Pure Land Rebirth Mantra:

 * namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya tadyathā
 * amṛtabhave amṛtasaṃbhave
 * amṛtavikrānte amṛtavikrāntagāmini
 * gagana kīrtīchare svāhā

For one who recites this mantra, Amitābha Buddha will constantly abide at the crown of the head, and after dying, he or she will be assigned this rebirth. Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, wishing to give rise to peace, perceived this mantra in a dream. Tripiṭaka Master Yaśa recites this mantra, and Dharma Master Xiu from Tian Ping Temple received this mantra from the mouth of Tripiṭaka Master Yaśa. He says, “The true roots of this sūtra are not in any foreign kingdom. Accept and maintain this mantra method in the six periods of the day and night, 37 times at each. In the morning and at night, one should bathe, rinse his or her mouth, and chew a neem twig. Make proper offerings of incense before an image, kneeling with palms joined, and recite this mantra 37 times. Persist in this way every day, and it will annihilate the four grave acts, the five heinous crimes, and the ten evils. Every sort of offense can be eliminated. Being without the many evil ghosts and spirits of anger and confusion, at the end of one’s life, rebirth will be assigned in the land of Amitābha. Moreover, for those who continuously accept, maintain, recite, and study, the merits and virtues are truly inconceivable.”

仏説阿弥陀経 佛說阿彌陀經

title: Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra


text:
Talk:Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra

Change title to include Amitabha Sutra
When reader search for "Short Amitabha Sutra" it cannot be found. I would suggest to change this title to "Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra(Amitaba Sutra)".Dalauhu (talk) 14:30, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

Change title to "Shorter Amitabha Sutra"
I just read Article title. According to the criteria of “Recognizability”, the current title should be changed to "Shorter Amitabha Sutra" because this is the name commonly known by the public (reference Amitabha Sutra). Currently people interested in this sutra cannot find it in Wikisource because "Amitabha" is not included in the title. Dalauhu (talk) 21:43, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Unlike Wikipedia, we title pages according to the title used in the published work (if applicable). It might be worthwhile to make a redirect though. Prosody (talk) 22:15, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
 * In that case,I think it's a good idea to redirect "Amitabha Sutra" in Wikisource. How to redirect? or are you going to do that?Dalauhu (talk) 16:00, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra


text:
Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra

Section 1: The cause of the Dharma assembly
Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was in Śrāvastī, residing in the Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍada’s park, along with a great saṃgha [gathering] of bhikṣus [monks], twelve hundred and fifty in all. At mealtime, the Bhagavān ['holy one', the Buddha] put on his robe, picked up his bowl, and made his way into the great city of Śrāvastī to beg for food within the city walls. After he had finished begging sequentially from door to door, he returned and ate his meal. Then he put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat, and sat down.

Section 2: Elder Subhūti opens the question
From the midst of the great multitude, Elder Subhūti then arose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and knelt with his right knee to the ground. With his hands joined together in respect, he addressed the Buddha, saying, “How extraordinary, Bhagavān, is the manner in which the Tathāgata ['thus-gone', the Buddha] is skillfully mindful of the bodhisattvas ['sages'], and skillfully instructs and cares for the bodhisattvas! Bhagavān, when good men and good women wish to develop the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, how should their minds dwell? How should they pacify their minds?” The Buddha replied, “Excellent, excellent, Subhūti, for it is just as you have said: the Tathāgata is skillfully mindful of the bodhisattvas, and skillfully instructs and cares for the bodhisattvas. Now listen carefully, because your question will be answered. Good men and good women who wish to develop the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi should dwell thusly, and should pacify their minds thusly.” “Just so, Bhagavān. We are joyfully wishing to hear it.”

Section 3: The true way of the Great Vehicle
The Buddha told Subhūti, “Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas [Great and holy sages] should pacify their minds thusly: ‘All different types of sentient beings, whether born from eggs, born from wombs, born from moisture, or born from transformation; having form or no form; having thought, no thought, or neither thought nor no thought — I will cause them all to become liberated and enter Remainderless Nirvāṇa.’ Thusly sentient beings are liberated without measure, without number, and to no end; however, truly no sentient beings obtain liberation. Why? Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has a notion of a self, a notion of a person, a notion of a being, or a notion of a life, he is not a bodhisattva.

Section 4: The wondrous practice of non-abiding
“Moreover, Subhūti, bodhisattvas should not abide in dharmas [rules] when practicing giving. This is called ‘giving without abiding in form.’ This giving does not abide in sounds, scents, tastes, sensations, or dharmas. Subhūti, bodhisattvas should practice giving thusly, not abiding in characteristics. Why? If bodhisattvas do not abide in characteristics in their practice of giving, then the merits [greatness] of this are inconceivable in measure. Subhūti, what do you think? Is the space to the east conceivable in measure?” “Certainly not, Bhagavān.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Is the space to the south, west, north, the four intermediary directions, or the zenith or nadir, conceivable in measure?” “Certainly not, Bhagavān.” “Subhūti, for bodhisattvas who do not abide when practicing giving, the merits are also such as this: inconceivable in measure. Subhūti, bodhisattvas should only dwell in what is taught thusly.

Section 5: The principle for true perception
“Subhūti, what do you think? Can the Tathāgata be perceived by means of bodily marks?” “Certainly not, Bhagavān. The Tathāgata cannot be perceived by means of the bodily marks. Why? The bodily marks that the Tathāgata speaks of are not bodily marks.” The Buddha told Subhūti, “Everything that has marks is deceptive and false. If all marks are not seen as marks, then this is perceiving the Tathāgata.”

Section 6: The rarity of true belief
Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying, “Bhagavān, will there be sentient beings who are able to hear these words thusly, giving rise to true belief?” The Buddha told to Subhūti, “Do not speak that way. After the extinction of the Tathāgata, in the next five hundred years, there will be those who maintain the precepts and cultivate merit, who will be able to hear these words and give rise to a mind of belief. Such beings have not just planted good roots with one buddha, or with two buddhas, or with three, four, or five buddhas. They have already planted good roots with measureless millions of buddhas, to be able to hear these words and give rise to even a single thought of clean, clear belief. Subhūti, the Tathāgata in each case knows this, and in each case perceives this, and these sentient beings thus attain immeasurable merit. Why? This is because these beings are holding no further notions of a self, notions of a person, notions of a being, or notions of a life. They are holding no notions of dharmas [i.e. not blindly following laid rules] and no notions of non-dharmas. Why? If the minds of sentient beings grasp after appearances, then this is attachment to a self, a person, a being, and a life. If they grasp after notions of dharmas, that is certainly attachment to a self, a person, a being, and a life. Why? When one grasps at non-dharmas, then that is immediate attachment to a self, a person, a being, and a life. Therefore, you should neither grasp at dharmas, nor should you grasp at non-dharmas. Regarding this principle, the Tathāgata frequently says, ‘You bhikṣus should know that the dharma I speak is like a raft. Even dharmas should be relinquished, so how much more so the non-dharmas?’

Section 7: No obtaining, no expounding
“Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata obtained Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi? Is there any dharma the Tathāgata has spoken?” Subhūti replied, “Thus do I explain the true meaning of the Buddha’s teachings: there is no fixed dharma of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, nor is there a fixed dharma the Tathāgata can speak. Why? The Tathāgata’s exposition of the Dharma [teaching] can never be grasped or spoken, being neither dharma nor non-dharma [being neither a fixed rule nor licence]. What is it, then? All the noble ones are distinguished by the unconditioned Dharma.”

Section 8: Emerging from the Dharma
“Subhūti, what do you think? If someone filled the three thousand great thousand-worlds with the Seven Precious Jewels in the practice of giving, would such a person obtain many merits?” Subhūti replied, “Very many, Bhagavān! Why? Such merits do not have the nature of merits, and for this reason the Tathāgata speaks of many merits.” “If a person accepts and maintains even as little as a four-line gāthā from within this sūtra, speaking it to others, then his or her merits will be even greater. Why? Subhūti, this is because all buddhas, as well as the dharmas of the Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi of the buddhas, emerge from this sūtra. Subhūti, what is called the Buddha Dharma is not a buddha dharma.

Section 9: The appearance without appearance
“Subhūti, what do you think? Does a srotaāpanna have the thought, ‘I have obtained the fruit of a srotaāpanna?’” Subhūti replied, “No, Bhagavān. Why? ‘Srotaāpanna’ refers to one who has entered the stream, yet there is nothing entered into. There is no entry into forms, sounds, scents, tastes, sensations, or dharmas. Thus is one called a srotaāpanna.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does a sakṛdāgāmin have the thought, ‘I have obtained the fruit of a sakṛdāgāmin?’” Subhūti replied, “No, Bhagavān. Why? ‘Sakṛdāgāmin’ refers to one who will return once more, yet there is nothing which leaves or returns. Thus is one called a sakṛdāgāmin.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does an anāgāmin have the thought, ‘I have obtained the fruit of an anāgāmin?’” Subhūti replied, “No, Bhagavān. Why? ‘Anāgāmin’ refers to one who will not return, yet there is nothing non-returning. Thus is one called an anāgāmin.”

“Subhūti, what do you think? Does an arhat have the thought, ‘I have obtained the fruit of an arhat?’” Subhūti replied, “No, Bhagavān. Why? There is truly no dharma which may be called an arhat. Bhagavān, if an arhat has the thought, ‘I have attained the Arhat Path,’ then this is a person attached to a self, a person, a being, and a life. Bhagavān, the Buddha says that among arhats, I am the foremost in my practice of the Samādhi of Non-contention, and am the foremost free of desire. However, Bhagavān, I do not have the thought, ‘I am an arhat free of desire.’ If I were thinking this way, then the Bhagavān would not speak of ‘Subhūti, the one who dwells in peace.’ It is because there is truly nothing dwelled in, that he speaks of ‘Subhūti, the one who dwells in peace.’”

Section 10: The adornment of pure lands
The Buddha addressed Subhūti, saying, “What do you think? In the past when the Tathāgata was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, was there any dharma obtained?” “No, Bhagavān. When the Tathāgata was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha there was truly no dharma obtained.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Do bodhisattvas adorn buddha-lands?” “No, Bhagavān. Why? The adornments of buddha-lands are not adornments, and are thus called adornments.” “Therefore, Subhūti, bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should thusly give rise to a clear and pure mind — a mind not associated with abiding in form; a mind not associated with abiding in sounds, scents, tastes, sensations, or dharmas; a mind not abiding in life. Subhūti, suppose a person had a body like Mount Sumeru, King of Mountains. Would this body be great?” Subhūti replied, “It would be extremely great, Bhagavān. Why? The Buddha teaches that no body is the Great Body.”

Section 11: Unconditioned merits surpass all
“Subhūti, suppose each sand grain in the Ganges River, contained its own Ganges River. What do you think, would there be many grains of sand of the Ganges River?” Subhūti said, “There would be extremely many, Bhagavān. The number of Ganges Rivers alone would be countless, let alone their grains of sand.” “Subhūti, I will now tell you a truth. If a good man or good woman filled such a number of three thousand great thousand-worlds with the Seven Precious Jewels in the practice of giving, would he or she obtain many merits?” Subhūti said, “Extremely many, Bhagavān.” The Buddha told Subhūti, “Just so, if good men and good women accept and maintain even a four-line gāthā from within this sūtra, speaking it to others, then the merits of this surpass the former merits.

Section 12: Venerating the true teachings
“Moreover, Subhūti, if one speaks even a four-line gāthā from within this sūtra, you should understand that this place is like the shrine of a buddha. In every world, the devas [nobles or holy people], humans, and asuras [outcasts or base people] should provide offerings to it. How much more so for those capable of accepting and maintaining the entire sūtra? Subhūti, you should know that this is a person with the highest and most exceptional Dharma. Wherever this sūtra dwells is the Buddha or an honored disciple.”

Section 13: Receiving and maintaining the Dharma
Subhūti asked the Buddha, “Bhagavān, by what name should we revere and maintain this sūtra?” The Buddha told Subhūti, “This sūtra is called the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā, and by this name you should revere and maintain it. Why is it called this? Subhūti, this Prajñāpāramitā spoken by the Buddha is not a perfection of prajñā. Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata actually spoken any dharma?” Subhūti replied, “Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has not spoken.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Are there very many atoms contained in three thousand great thousand-worlds?” Subhūti replied, “There are extremely many, Bhagavān.” “Subhūti, the atoms spoken of by the Tathāgata are not atoms, and are thus called atoms. The worlds spoken of by the Tathāgata are not worlds, and are thus called worlds. Subhūti, what do you think? Can the Tathāgata be seen by means of the Thirty-two Marks?” “No, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata cannot be seen by means of the Thirty-two Marks. Why? The Thirty-two Marks that the Tathāgata speaks of are not marks, and are thus called the Thirty-two Marks.” “Subhūti, suppose there were a good man or good woman who, in the practice of giving, gave his or her body away as many times as there are sand grains in the Ganges River. If there are people who accept and maintain even a four-line gāthā from within this sūtra, then the merits of this are far greater.”

Section 14: Leaving appearances: Nirvāṇa
At that time, Subhūti, hearing this sūtra being spoken, had a profound understanding of its essential meaning, and burst into tears. He then addressed the Buddha, saying, “How exceptional, Bhagavān, is the Buddha who thus speaks this profound sūtra! Since attaining the Eye of Prajñā, I have never heard such a sūtra! Bhagavān, if there are again people who are able to hear this sūtra thusly, with a mind of clean and clear belief, giving rise to the true appearance, then this is a person with the most extraordinary merits. Bhagavān, the true appearance is not an appearance, and for this reason the Tathāgata speaks of a true appearance.

“Bhagavān, being able to hear this sūtra thusly, I do not find it difficult to believe, understand, accept, and maintain it. However, in the next era, five hundred years from now, if there are sentient beings who are able to hear this sūtra and believe, understand, accept, and maintain it, then they will be most extraordinary. Why? This is because such a person has no notions of a self, notions of a person, notions of a being, or notions of a life. Why? The appearance of a self is not a true appearance; appearances of a person, a being, and a life, are also not true appearances; those who have departed from all appearances are called buddhas.” The Buddha told Subhūti, “Thusly, thusly! If there are again people who are able to hear this sūtra, and are not startled, terrified, or fearful, know that the existence of such a person is extremely rare. Why? Subhūti, this foremost pāramitā that the Tathāgata speaks of is not a foremost pāramitā, and is thus called the foremost pāramitā.

“Subhūti, the Pāramitā of Forbearance that the Tathāgata speaks of is not a pāramitā of forbearance. Why? Subhūti, this is like in the past when my body was cut apart by the Kalirāja: there were no notions of a self, notions of a person, notions of a being, or notions of a life. In the past, when I was being hacked limb from limb, if there were notions of a self, notions of a person, notions of a being, or notions of a life, then I would have responded with hatred and anger. Remember also that I was the Ṛṣi ['Sage'] of Forbearance for five hundred lifetimes in the past. Over so many lifetimes there were no notions of a self, notions of a person, notions of a being, or notions of a life.

“Therefore, Subhūti, bodhisattvas should depart from all appearances in order to develop the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. They should give rise to a mind which does not dwell in form; they should give rise to a mind which does not dwell in sounds, scents, tastes, sensations, or dharmas; they should give rise to a mind which does not dwell. If anything dwells in the mind, one should not dwell in it, and for this reason the Buddha says that the minds of bodhisattvas should not dwell in form when practicing giving. Subhūti, bodhisattvas should give thusly because it benefits all sentient beings. The Tathāgata teaches that all characteristics are not characteristics, and all sentient beings are not sentient beings. Subhūti, the Tathāgata is one who speaks what is true, one who speaks what is real, one who speaks what is thus, and is not a deceiver or one who speaks to the contrary.

“Subhūti, the Dharma [teachings] attained by the Tathāgata is neither substantial nor void. Subhūti, if the mind of a bodhisattva dwells in dharmas [rules] when practicing giving, then this is like a person in darkness who is unable to see anything. However, if the mind of a bodhisattva does not dwell in dharmas when practicing giving, then this is like a person who is able to see, for whom sunlight clearly illuminates the perception of various forms. Subhūti, in the next era, if there are good men or good women capable of accepting, maintaining, studying, and reciting this sūtra, then the Tathāgata by means of his buddha-wisdom [enlightenment] is always aware of them and always sees them. These people all obtain immeasurable, limitless merit.

Section 15: The merits of maintaining this sūtra
“Subhūti, suppose there were a good man or a good woman who, in the morning, gave his or her body away as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. In the middle of the day, this person would also give his or her body away as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. Then in the evening, this person would also give his or her body away as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. Suppose this giving continued for incalculable billions of eons. If there are people again who hear this sūtra with a mind of belief, without doubt, then the merits of these people surpass the former merits. How much more so for those who write, accept, maintain, study, recite, and explain it?

“Subhūti, to summarize, this sūtra has inconceivable, immeasurable, limitless merit. The Tathāgata speaks it to send forth those in the Great Vehicle, to send forth those in the Supreme Vehicle. If there are people able to accept, maintain, study, recite, and explain this sūtra to others, then the Tathāgata is always aware of them and always sees them. Thusly, these people are carrying the Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi of the Tathāgata. Why? Subhūti, those who are happy with lesser teachings are attached to views of a self, views of a person, views of a being, and views of a life. They cannot hear, accept, maintain, study, recite, and explain it to others. Subhūti, in every place where this sūtra exists, the devas, humans, and asuras from every world should provide offerings. This place is a shrine to which everyone should respectfully make obeisance and circumambulate, adorning its resting place with flowers and incense.

Section 16: Able to purify obstructions
“Moreover, Subhūti, suppose good men and good women accept, maintain, study, and recite this sūtra. If they are treated badly due to karma from a previous life that would make them fall onto evil paths, then from this treatment by others their karma from previous lives will be eliminated in this lifetime, and they will attain Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. Subhūti, I remember in the past, innumerable, incalculable eons before Dīpaṃkara Buddha, being able to meet 84,000 countless myriads of buddhas, and providing offerings to honor them all without exception. Suppose someone in the next era is able to accept, maintain, study, and recite this sūtra. The merits of my offerings to all those buddhas are, in comparison to the merits of this person, not even one hundredth as good. They are so vastly inferior that a comparison cannot be made. Subhūti, if there are good men and good women in the next era who accept, maintain, study, and recite this sūtra, and I were to fully explain all the merits attained, the minds of those listening could go mad with confusion, full of doubt and disbelief. Subhūti, understand that just as the meaning of this sūtra is inconceivable, its rewards of karma [good deeds] are also inconceivable.”

Section 17: Ultimately without self
At that time, Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying, “Bhagavān, when good men and good women develop the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, how should their minds dwell? How should they pacify their minds?” The Buddha told Subhūti, “Good men and good women develop Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi by giving rise to a mind thusly: ‘I will liberate all sentient beings. Yet when all sentient beings have been liberated, then truly not even a single sentient being has been liberated.’ Why? Subhūti, a bodhisattva who has a notion of a self, a notion of a person, a notion of a being, or a notion of a life, is not a bodhisattva. Why is this so? Subhūti, there is actually no dharma of one who develops Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi.

“What do you think? When the Tathāgata was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, was there any dharma of the attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi?” “No, Bhagavān, and thus do I explain the actual meaning of the Buddha’s teachings: when the Buddha was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, there was truly no dharma of the attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi.” The Buddha said, “Thusly, thusly, Subhūti! There was no dharma of the Tathāgata’s attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. Subhūti, if there were a dharma of the Tathāgata’s attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, then Dīpaṃkara Buddha would not have given me the prediction, ‘In the next era you will become a buddha named Śākyamuni.’ It is because there was no dharma of the attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, that Dīpaṃkara Buddha gave me this prediction by saying, ‘In the next era you will become a buddha named Śākyamuni.’ Why? ‘Tathāgata’ denotes the suchness of dharmas. Subhūti, if someone says, ‘The Tathāgata has attained Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi,’ there is no dharma of a buddha’s attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi.

“Subhūti, the true attainment by the Tathāgata of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi is neither substantial nor void, and for this reason the Tathāgata says, ‘All dharmas are the Buddha Dharma.’ Subhūti, all dharmas spoken of are actually not all dharmas, and are thus called all dharmas. Subhūti, this is like the body of a person that is tall and great.” Subhūti said, “Bhagavān, the body of a person that the Tathāgata speaks of, tall and great, is not a great body, and is thus called the Great Body.” “Subhūti, for bodhisattvas it is also such as this. If someone says ‘I will liberate and cross over innumerable sentient beings,’ then this is not one to be called a bodhisattva. Why? Subhūti, truly there is no dharma of a bodhisattva, and for this reason the Buddha says, ‘All dharmas are not a self, a person, a being, or a life.’ Subhūti, if a bodhisattva says, ‘I am adorning buddha-lands,’ then this is not one to be called a bodhisattva. Why? The adornments of buddha-lands spoken of by the Tathāgata are not adornments, and are thus called adornments. Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has penetrating realization that dharmas are without self, then the Tathāgata says, ‘This is a true bodhisattva.’

Section 18: Of a single unified perception
“Subhūti, what do you think? Does the Tathāgata have the Physical Eye?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has the Physical Eye.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does the Tathāgata have the Divine Eye?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has the Divine Eye.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does the Tathāgata have the Prajñā Eye?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has the Prajñā Eye.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does the Tathāgata have the Dharma Eye?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has the Dharma Eye.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Does the Tathāgata have the Buddha Eye?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata has the Buddha Eye.” Subhūti, what do you think? Regarding the sand grains of the Ganges River, does the Buddha speak of these grains of sand?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata speaks of these grains of sand.” “If there were as many Ganges Rivers as there are sand grains in the Ganges River, and there were such buddha world realms as there were sand grains in all those Ganges Rivers, would their number be very many?” “It would be extremely many, Bhagavān.” The Buddha told Subhūti, “Such a number of lands possess a multitude of sentient beings, and their minds are fully known by the Tathāgata. Why? The minds that the Tathāgata speaks of are not minds, and are thus called minds. Why is this so? Subhūti, past mind cannot be grasped, present mind cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped.

Section 19: Pervading the Dharma Realm
“Subhūti, what do you think? If someone filled three thousand great thousand-worlds with the Seven Precious Jewels, and gave them away in the practice of giving, would this person obtain many merits from such causes and conditions?” “Thusly, Bhagavān, from such causes and conditions, the merits of this person would be extremely many.” “Subhūti, if such merits truly existed, then the Tathāgata would not say that many merits that are obtained. It is from the merits that are unconditioned, that the Tathāgata speaks of obtaining many merits.

Section 20: Leaving form, leaving appearance
“Subhūti, what do you think? Can the Tathāgata be seen by means of the perfected body of form?” “No, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata cannot be seen by means of the perfected body of form. Why? The perfected body of form that the Tathāgata speaks of is itself not a perfected body of form, and is thus called the perfected body of form.” “Subhūti, what do you think? Can the Tathāgata be seen by the perfection of all marks?” “No, Bhagavān, the Tathāgata cannot be seen by the perfection of all marks. Why? The perfection of marks that the Tathāgata speaks of is itself not a perfection, and is thus called the perfection of marks.”

Section 21: No speaking, no dharma to speak
“Subhūti, do not say that it occurs to the Tathāgata, ‘I have a spoken Dharma.’ Do not compose this thought. Why? If someone says ‘The Tathāgata has a spoken Dharma,’ then this is like slandering the Buddha, because my teachings have not been understood. Subhūti, one who speaks the Dharma is unable to speak any dharma, and it is thus called speaking the Dharma.” At that time, Living Wisdom Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying, “Bhagavān, will there be sentient beings in the next era who will hear this spoken dharma and give rise to a mind of belief?” The Buddha replied, “Subhūti, there will be neither sentient beings nor will there not be sentient beings. Why? Subhūti, the sentient beings that the Tathāgata speaks of are not sentient beings, and are thus called sentient beings.”

Section 22: No dharmas may be grasped
Subhūti asked the Buddha, “Bhagavān, is the Buddha’s attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi actually without attainment?” “Thusly, thusly, Subhūti. With regard to my Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, there is not even the slightest dharma of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi which may be grasped.

Section 23: The virtuous practice of a pure mind
“Moreover, Subhūti, the equality of dharmas that has nothing that is better or worse, is called Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi, and by means of no self, no person, no being, and no life, all pure dharmas are cultivated and Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi is attained. Subhūti, these pure dharmas that the Tathāgata speaks of are not pure dharmas, and are thus called pure dharmas.

Section 24: The merits of prajñā are incomparable
“Subhūti, suppose three thousand great thousand-worlds all contained Sumeru, King of Mountains, and there were mountains such as this of the Seven Precious Jewels, given away by someone in the practice of giving. If a person has only a four-line gāthā from this Prajñāpāramitā sūtra, and accepts, maintains, studies, recites, and speaks it for others, then the merits of the other person are not even one hundredth as good. They are so vastly inferior that the two are incomparable.

Section 25: Transformations are not transformations
“Subhūti, what do you think? You should not say that it occurs to the Tathāgata, ‘I will cross over sentient beings.’ Subhūti, do not compose this thought. Why? Truly there are no sentient beings crossed over by the Tathāgata. If there were sentient beings crossed over by the Tathāgata, then there would be a self, a person, a being, and a life. The existence of a self that the Tathāgata speaks of is not the existence of a self, but ordinary people believe it is a self. Subhūti, an ordinary person that the Tathāgata speaks of is not an ordinary person.

Section 26: The Dharmakāya is without appearance
“Subhūti, what do you think? Can the Tathāgata be observed by means of the Thirty-two Marks?” Subhūti replied, “Thusly, thusly, with the Thirty-two Marks the Tathāgata is to be observed.” The Buddha said, “Subhūti, if the Tathāgata could be observed by means of the Thirty-two Marks, then a cakravartin king would be a tathāgata.” Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying, “Bhagavān, thus do I explain the meaning of what the Buddha has said. One should not observe the Tathāgata by means of the Thirty-two Marks.” At that time, the Bhagavān spoke a gāthā, saying:

 * If one perceives me in forms,
 * If one listens for me in sounds,
 * This person practices a deviant path
 * And cannot see the Tathāgata.

Section 27: No severing, no annihilation
“Subhūti, suppose you think, ‘The Tathāgata has not, from the perfection of characteristics, attained Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi.’ Subhūti, do not compose the thought, ‘The Tathāgata has not, from the perfection of characteristics, attained Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi.’ Subhūti, composing this thought, the one who is developing the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi is then speaking of the severence and annihilation of dharmas. Do not compose this thought. Why? One who is developing the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi does not speak of a characteristic of the severence and annihilation of dharmas.

Section 28: Not receiving, not desiring
“Subhūti, suppose a bodhisattva, in the practice of giving, filled as many world realms with the Seven Precious Jewels, as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River. If there is a person with the awareness that all dharmas are without self, and accomplishes their complete endurance, then this is superior, and the merits attained by this bodhisattva surpass those of the previous bodhisattva. Subhūti, the reason for this is that bodhisattvas do not receive merit.” Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying, “Bhagavān, why do you say that bodhisattvas do not receive merit?” “Subhūti, for bodhisattvas to make merit, they should not greedily wish to acquire it, and therefore it is said that there is no merit received.

Section 29: Power and position destroyed in silence
“Subhūti, if someone says that the Tathāgata comes, goes, sits, or lies down, then this person does not understand the meaning of my teachings. Why? The Tathāgata is one who neither comes nor goes anywhere, and for this reason is called the Tathāgata.

Section 30: The principle of the unity of appearances
“Subhūti, if a good man or good woman disintegrated three thousand great thousand-worlds into atoms, would these atoms be very many in number?” “They would be extremely many, Bhagavān. Why? If this multitude of atoms truly existed, then the Buddha would not speak of a multitude of atoms. Yet the Buddha does speak of a multitude of atoms, and therefore the multitude of atoms spoken of by the Buddha is not a multitude of atoms, and is thus called a multitude of atoms. Bhagavān, the three thousand great thousand-worlds that the Tathāgata speaks of are not worlds, and are thus called worlds. Why? The existence of these worlds is like a single unified appearance. Why? The unified appearance that the Tathāgata speaks of is not a unified appearance, and is thus called the unified appearance.” “Subhūti, one who is of the unified characteristic is unable to speak it, and yet ordinary people greedily wish to acquire it.

Section 31: Unborn knowing and perceiving
“Subhūti, suppose a person says, ‘The Buddha teaches views of a self, a person, a being, and a life.’ Subhūti, what do you think? Does this person understand the meaning of my teachings?” “No, Bhagavān, this person does not understand the meaning of the Tathāgata’s teachings. Why? The views of a self, a person, a being, and a life, that the Bhagavān speaks of, are not views of a self, a person, a being, or a life, and are thus called the views of a self, a person, a being, and a life.” “Subhūti, regarding all dharmas, one who is developing the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi should thusly know, thusly see, and thusly believe, not giving rise to notions of dharmas. Subhūti, the true characteristic of dharmas is not a characteristic of dharmas, and is thus called the characteristic of dharmas.

Section 32: Transforming the unreal
“Subhūti, suppose someone filled immeasurable, innumerable worlds with the Seven Precious Jewels, and then gave these away in the practice of giving. If a good man or good woman develops the mind of a bodhisattva and maintains this sūtra, even with as little as a four-line gāthā, and accepts, maintains, studies, recites, and explains it to others, then the merits of this surpass the others. How should one explain it? Without grasping at characteristics, in unmoving suchness. For what reason?

 * All conditioned dharmas
 * Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows;
 * Like drops of dew, or like flashes of lightning;
 * Thusly should they be contemplated.

After the Buddha had spoken this sūtra, then Elder Subhūti along with all the bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs [nuns], upāsakas, upāsikās, and the devas, humans, and asuras from every world, heard what the Buddha had said. With great bliss, they believed, accepted, and reverently practiced in accordance.

Appendix: Mantra for the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā

 * namo bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāyai
 * oṃ īriti īṣiri śruta viṣaya viṣaya svāhā

title: Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra


text:
Talk:Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra

Translation license
This translation has been released under a CC0 license by the author. From the source webpage: "CC0 1.0 Universal. Unless otherwise stated, all original translations and articles on this site have been dedicated to the public domain by the author." Kaldari (talk) 03:20, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra


text:
Page:History of West Australia.djvu/480

HERE are no biographies published in this work where the gentlemen concerned can claim a longer association with Western Australia than Mr. John Thomas, better known as Captain Thomas. It is a somewhat impressive fact and one calling for respect and delight that we have still in our midst he who came to the colony in the year when it was proclaimed—in 1829. Captain Thomas thus bridges the space of time between the days when Western Australia was the hunting ground of the dusky natives and the present, when the whites are pushing their enterprise and industry over the rich lands, north, south, east, and west, and even into the solemn deserts of the interior. In itself it is the span of a long life, and one fraught with much pregnant moment, not only to the continent of Australia, but to the whole world besides. While Captain Thomas has been hid in the interminable forests and the gloom and mystery of silence in Western Australia, cities have been born on the continent which have grown to such dimensions as to be recognised the world over. Notable men have appeared, and in his own colony and the others of the group great industries have risen, and the white man's ingenuity and industry have sedulously penetrated where the black in 1829 reigned supreme.

The life of Captain Thomas in Western Australia has been a romantic one. His experience among the poor, ignorant savages, his days spent in the grim silence of the woods, and his voyages along the immense coast and to convenient islands, are remarkable enough to form subject matter for a novel. Many a tale he can tell of the early days of Western Australia which should appear in books of history before they forever sink into the forgotten. He is a link binding the past with the present, and his biography should find interested readers everywhere.

John Thomas was born in Wales in 1815. He was educated in his native land, and when the boy was fourteen years old his father accompanied Mr. Thomas Peel to Western Australia to take the position of clerk of works on somewhat extensive land proposals that gentleman intended carrying out in this colony. The whole family set sail in the ship Gilmour, and landed in Fremantle in November, 1829. Thus the subject of our sketch entered this colony some five months after it was proclaimed and not long after the first settlement was made at Albany. Fremantle at that time was in its dismal native state, and little evidence could be seen by the incoming pioneers of the work of white men. However, they soon joined the little party who had bravely elected to pioneer the colony under Commander Stirling. One of those who entered Western Australia by the same vessel was Mr. Smythe, who subsequently surveyed the site of Fremantle. Among the first efforts of the boy John Thomas was that of cutting timber in the locality where Rockingham now stands. The wood obtained from there was eminently suitable for the erection of houses. Large tribes of natives inhabited the district, and already they were showing how greatly they resented the raids of the whites upon what they considered their own peculiar property. In order to safely accomplish their work the party of woodcutters, of which Mr. Thomas made one, was guarded by two men with guns, to frighten off the armed blacks. The lad came through the dangers of this work unscathed, gnd returned to Fremantle and Perth. He followed various occupations—among the few which so young a place supplied—and in 1832, in partnership with a man named William Gaze, he began farming in the Kelmscott district, on the present Canning Road. Before the seed could be sown the fields had to be denuded of timber, and the two pioneers proceeded energetically to clear the forest and to establish a home. John Thomas, although but seventeen years old, was able to do a man's work, and the two quickly cleared part of their little holding, prepared the soil, and tilled the wheat. Another chain of land yet remained to be cleared and tilled. One fine autumn morning they worked as usual, but the day eventuated in horror for both of them. Leaving their tools in the field they repaired to their modest hut, some little distance away, and partook of their simple noonday meal. This over, they returned to work, and while one sowed a little patch of the primitive farm the other began cutting away the timber. Presently they were roused from their occupations by the howling of their dog, and looking in the direction whence the sounds came they observed that the animal was speared through the head. Glancing from him to the ridge above, they saw scores of natives assembled and seemingly bent on encompassing their destruction. Could the two men but get into their hut where their guns were they would be safe, but the natives were cunning enough to place themselves on the path they must take. A mile

title: Page:History of West Australia.djvu/480


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Bucknill, John Charles


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Buck, Adam


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Edward V


text:
Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 59.djvu/304

 being stationed in 1718–19 at Bedale in Yorkshire. In 1719 he visited Ralph Thoresby at Leeds, and they journeyed together to York (, Diary, ii. 264–266). He was admitted F.R.S. in March 1719, but was ejected on 9 June 1757 for nonpayment of his subscription. His election as F.S.A. took place on 13 Jan. 1719–1720, but he ceased to be a member before January 1754. On 18 June 1720 he was appointed to the office of Somerset herald in the College of Arms.

Warburton possessed great natural abilities, but had received little education. He was ignorant of Latin, and not skilled in composition in his native language. With his colleagues in the heralds' college he was always on bad terms, and many scandalous stories are told of him. He was an indefatigable collector, and he owned many rarities in print and in manuscript. After much drinking and attempting to ‘muddle’ Wanley, he sold in July 1720 to the Earl of Oxford many valuable manuscripts on Wanley's own terms. At a later date most of the rare Elizabethan and Jacobean plays in his possession were, through his own ‘carelessness and the ignorance’ of Betsy Baker, his servant, ‘unluckily burnd or put under pye bottoms.’ A list in his own handwriting of those destroyed, fifty-five in all, and of those preserved, three and a fragment, is in Lansdowne MS. 807. It is printed in the 1803 edition of Shakespeare by Steevens and Reed (ii. 371–2), and in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ (1815, ii. 217–22, 424). Warburton's copies of several of the works were unique, and the loss was thus irreparable.

Warburton died at his apartments in the College of Arms, Doctors' Commons, London, his usual place of residence, on 11 May 1759, and was buried in the south aisle of St. Benet's Church, Paul's Wharf, London, on 17 May. In spite of his greed for money, he died in poor circumstances. He left behind him an ‘amazing’ collection of books, manuscripts, and prints, which were sold by auction in 1766. Many of his topographical manuscripts are in the Lansdowne collection at the British Museum, numbered 886 to 923. The most valuable of them relate to Yorkshire, and among them are several which formerly belonged to Abraham de la Pryme [q. v.] His journal in 1718 and 1719, from MS. 911 in this collection, is printed in the ‘Yorkshire Archæological Journal’ (xv. 65 et seq.).

Warburton's first wife was Dorothy, daughter of Andrew Huddleston of Hutton John, Cumberland. They were not happy together, and they separated in 1716. He afterwards married a widow with children, and is said to have married her son, when a minor, to one of his daughters. By his second wife he had issue John Warburton, who married, in 1756, Anne Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Edward Mores, and only sister of Edward Rowe Mores [q. v.]; he resided at Dublin many years, and obtained in 1780 the place of pursuivant of the court of exchequer in Ireland. He may have been the J. Warburton, deputy-keeper of the records in Bermingham Tower, who began the ‘History of the City of Dublin,’ which was published in 1818 in two volumes. Samuel Warburton, ‘a retired English officer, 58 years of age,’ shot at Lyons in December 1793, was probably a nephew of the Somerset herald (, Englishmen in French Revolution, p. 207).

Warburton published in 1716 from actual survey a map of Northumberland in four sheets, and during the next few years brought out similar maps of Yorkshire, Middlesex, Essex, and Hertfordshire. He announced that the map of Yorkshire was only for ‘persons of distinction and of public employ, and none to be sold but what are subscribed for’ (, Illustr. of Lit. iv. 128); and in 1722 he issued in four quarto pages ‘a list of the nobility and gentry’ of the three other counties ‘who had subscribed and ordered their coats-of-arms to be inscribed on a new map of these counties now making by John Warburton.’ On 8 Aug. 1728 he advertised that he kept a register of lands, houses, &c., to be bought, sold, or mortgaged. He brought out in 1749 a ‘Map of Middlesex’ in two sheets of imperial atlas, which came under the censure of John Anstis the younger. Warburton had given on the border of this map five hundred engraved arms, and the earl marshal, supposing many of them to be fictitious, ordered that no copies should be sold until the right to wear them had been proved. Warburton endeavoured to vindicate himself in ‘London and Middlesex illustrated by Names, Residence, Genealogy, and Coat-armour of the Nobility, Merchants, &c.’ (1749). In 1753 he published ‘Vallum Romanum, or the History and Antiquities of the Roman Wall in Cumberland and Northumberland,’ the survey and plan of which were made by him in 1715. William Hutton applauded him as ‘the judicious Warburton, whom I regard for his veracity’ (Roman Wall, ed. 1813, pref. p. xxvii). In this treatise Warburton claimed the credit of having resuscitated (by means of his map of Northumberland in 1716) the Society of Antiquaries. This claim disturbed the minds of many leading


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 antiquaries (Minutes of Soc. vii. 98, 105; cf. art. ).

John Nichols printed in 1779 in two volumes from the collections of Warburton and Ducarel ‘Some Account of the Alien Priories,’ but the compilers' names were not mentioned. This omission was rectified in many copies issued in 1786 with a new title-page. A mezzotint-portrait of Warburton in his herald's coat, by Vandergucht, was engraved by Andrew Miller in 1740.

[Nichols's Illustr. of Lit. ii. 59; Nichols's Lit. Anecdotes, iii. 618, v. 405, 700–1, vi. 140–7, 391, 631, viii. 363, ix. 645; Notes and Queries, 7th ser. xii. 15; Thomson's Royal Soc. App. iv. p. xxxv; Noble's College of Arms, pp. 388–93; Gent. Mag. 1759, p. 242; Grose's Olio, pp. 158–160; Hasted's Kent, ii. 580; Smith's Portraits, ii. 938.]  WARBURTON, PETER (1540?–1621), judge, only son of Thomas Warburton (natural son of John, fourth son of Sir Geoffrey Warburton of Arley, Cheshire) by his wife Anne, daughter of Richard Maisterson of Nantwich, Cheshire, was born at Northwich in the same county about 1540. He passed his legal novitiate at Staple Inn, and was admitted on 2 May 1562 student at Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar on 2 Feb. 1571–2, and was elected bencher on 3 Feb. 1581–2, and Lent reader in 1583. He served the office of sheriff of Cheshire in 1583, and was appointed queen's attorney for that and the adjoining county of Lancaster on 19 May 1592, in October of which year he was also placed on the commission for enforcing the laws against recusancy. On 8 July 1593 he was elected vice-chamberlain of Chester, which city he represented in the parliaments of 1586–7, 1588–9, and 1597–8. On 29 Nov. 1593 he was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law. He was a member of the special commission for the suppression of schism appointed on 24 Nov. 1599, and was provided with a puisne judgeship in the court of common pleas on 24 Nov. 1600. He went the Oxford circuit (see the curious details of his expenses printed in Camden Miscellany, vol. iv.), was continued in office on the accession of James I, and knighted at Whitehall on 23 July 1603. He assisted at the trial of Essex (19–25 Feb. 1600–1), and tried the ‘Bye’ conspirators [see ] and Sir Walter Ralegh (15–17 Nov. 1603), and was a member of the special commissions that did justice on the plotters of the gunpowder treason (27 Jan. 1605–6). He was appointed by commission of 20 Jan. 1610–11 to hear causes in chancery with Sir Edward Phelips [q. v.] and Sir David Williams [q. v.] In the conference on the royal message touching the commendam case, on 27 April 1616, he joined with Coke and the rest of his colleagues in denying the right of the king to stay proceedings, but afterwards ate his own words in the royal presence [see ]. That his temper, however, was not wholly subservient is shown by the fact that in the following October he was in disgrace for having presumed to hang a Scottish falconer contrary to the king's express command. He was soon restored to favour, and on 9 Aug. 1617 was nominated of the council in the Welsh marches. By successive investments of his professional gains he gradually acquired considerable landed estate in his native county. His residence was for some years Black Hall, Watergate Street, Cheshire, a house formerly belonging to the grey friars. In his later days he removed to his manor of Grafton, in the parish of Tilston, where he died on 7 Sept. 1621. His remains were interred in Tilston church.

Warburton married thrice: first (on 4 Oct. 1574), Margaret, sole daughter of George Barlow of Dronfield Woodhouse, Derbyshire; secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Butler of Bewsey, Warrington, Lancashire; thirdly, Alice, daughter of Peter Warburton of Arley, Cheshire. By his second and third wives he had no issue; by his first wife he had two daughters, Elizabeth—who married Sir Thomas Stanley of Alderley, ancestor of the present Lord Stanley of Alderley—and Margaret, who died in infancy.

[Visitation of Cheshire, 1580 (Harl. Soc.), pp. 238, 240; Lincoln's Inn Records; Dugdale's Orig. pp. 253, 261; Chron. Ser. p. 99; Ormerod's Cheshire, ed. Helsby, i. 60, 69, 74, 219, ii. 704; Hist. MSS. Comm. Cal. Hatfield MSS. iv. 240, 522, v. 277, 13th Rep. App. iv. 254, 14th Rep. App. viii. 85; Index to Remembrancia, p. 452; Members of Parliament (Official Lists); Nichols's Progresses, James I, i. 207; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1602–18, and Addenda, 1580–1625; Cobbett's State Trials, i. 1334, ii. 1, 62, 159; Whitelocke's Liber Famelicus (Camden Soc.), pp. 62, 97; Spedding's Life of Bacon, v. 360; Rymer's Fœdera, ed. Sanderson, xvi. 386; Documents connected with the History of Ludlow and the Lords Marchers, p. 244; Genealogist, new ser. ed. Harwood, xii. 162, ed. Murray, vii. 6; Foss's Lives of the Judges.]  WARBURTON, PETER (1588–1666), judge, eldest son of Peter Warburton of Hefferston Grange, Cheshire, grandson of Sir Peter Warburton (d. 1550) of Arley in the same county, by Magdalen, daughter of Robert Moulton of St. Alban's, Wood Street, London, auditor of the exchequer in the reign of Elizabeth, was born on 27 March 1588. At Oxford, where he matriculated from


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA all the spectators, however, and students living in dormitories that front on the athletic field find that they have suddenly become very popular among the ladies of the city.

The football teams have ordered sweaters and shin-guards from England, and the Beirut tailors have been puzzling their brains over queerly shaped garments for the sprinters. The medals on exhibition in the college library were struck in Boston especially for this occasion, and bear on their faces the college emblem, a cedar of Lebanon. Besides the prizes for each event, the American consul will give a gold medal to the champion all-round athlete. Best of all, the governor of Lebanon has promised to attend and has sent his famous military band to provide the afternoon's music. When to these various good things is added the glory of a Syrian springtime, and a campus set high on a bluff overlooking the blue Mediterranean, with Mount Lebanon raising its snow-capped summits high in the background, it is an occasion and a setting to quicken the slowest pulse.

To-day is so full of excitement, however, that nobody thinks very much of anything outside the athletic field. The governor's band has come early, with all kinds of instruments, especially those which make a very loud noise. A tent has been erected for them in the center of the field, and over the tent is a little American flag. The East is always so  [ 45 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON and contradictory that it occasions no particular surprise that a Syrian military band should be playing Sousa marches under the American colors.

But it looks as if we had at last succeeded in making the East hustle a little. All Beirut seems to be crowding into the campus. It is almost a part of his religion for an Oriental never to do anything on time; yet the grand stands are already full, and the soldiers stationed at the gate-house can hardly hold the crowds back long enough for the porter to collect their tickets. The scene is dazzling, dizzying, bewildering, like Coney Island and the Derby and the Yale-Princeton game all jumbled together.

There must be at least five thousand strangers on the college grounds, and every color of the spectrum is here, especially the very brilliant ones. The military band, with their blue uniforms and red fezes, seem almost shabby and dull in comparison with the more garish coloring all around them. The seats are mostly filled with women, whose showy dresses are hideous individually and beautiful as part of the general color scheme. Moslem harems are here with their weird veils, and there are many pretty Levantines in rich, inappropriate silks and satins. In Syria, however, the ladies do not monopolize the bright garments. Handsome young Turkish officers swagger along under yards of gold lace, merchants from the city are wearing their best and baggiest [ 46 ]


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA satin trousers and embroidered waistcoats and broad silk sashes, while the sons of Egyptian millionaires sport the elegantly fitting coats and tinted vests which now form the favorite costume of the streets of Cairo. The color spreads over the field and up the grand stands, with bright splashes along the sides of the dormitories. Long strips of red and white bunting flaunt the college colors; American and British and Greek and Turkish flags wave above, and the students' windows are decorated with their national emblems or class banners.

Early in the afternoon an American tutor, while ushering the women of a Moslem harem across the campus, suggested, in rather labored Arabic, that they pass around the back of one of the dormitories so as to avoid the crowd. Imagine his surprise and consternation when one of the ladies replied, "No, thank you; I'd rather go around in front"—and said it in perfect English, with just a suspicion of a Yankee twang! Who was hidden behind that black veil? What foolish, tragic venture had brought it about that an American girl should dwell behind the latticed windows of a Moslem seraglio?

But the students have no intention of being obscured by their guests. They are out a thousand strong, with their best clothes and their loudest voices. They represent every race and tongue and faith of the Near East, with here and there a stranger from Europe or South America. At first thought, [ 47 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON it seems as though they could never be amalgamated, even for an afternoon. Here, for example, are a dozen names, representing as many nationalities; Hafiz Abd-ul-Malik, Neshan Hamyartsumian, Ahmed Zeki, Basileios Theodoropolous, Tahir Huseini, Carlos d'Oliveira, Aldo Villa, Mordecai Elstein, Emmanuel Mattsson, Joseph Miklasievicz, Eugène Faure, Emile Kirehner. As to religion, they are Moslems, Jews, Druses, Babites, and Christians of every sect. Some of the languages they speak are Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Chaldean, Persian, Greek, Yiddish, English, Swedish, Bulgarian, Abyssinian, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish and Russian. As to geographical distribution, they come from the Balkans in the north and from Baghdad, forty days' journey to the east; from a thousand miles up the Nile, and from New York and Brazil in the west.

Probably no other institution in the world includes such a mixture of antagonistic peoples and religions, and, until quite recently, the members of each of the more largely represented races kept closely together. It used to be seldom that a Jew, for instance, associated with an Armenian outside of class hours. In the evenings the Greek students would gather in one another's rooms, or march around the campus arm in arm, singing their national songs. The Egyptians, most of whom were of very wealthy families, promenaded together, discussing the fleshpots of [ 48 ]


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA Cairo. Even among the Syrians, who have always formed the majority of the student body, there were lines of division between the men from Tripoli in the north and from Sidon or Jedeideh in the south. If these groups are considered as being separated by latitudinal lines, there were also the longitudinal divisions between Christian and Moslem and Jew; and sometimes long-cherished feuds broke into flame and pitched battles took place on the campus.

Not the least benefit arising from the introduction of American athletic sports has been a weakening of these ancient racial and religious barriers. The antagonisms still exist, strong and danger-breeding; but there has been a large advance made toward a more catholic college spirit. It would not be true to say that athletics has been the only cause, or even the chief cause of this change; for by precept and example, by religious instruction and social intercourse, the faculty are continually molding the characters of these young men. Yet it is true that in the case of more than one recalcitrant student whom no other influence seemed able to touch, the latent manliness has been brought out through his newly awakened interest in sports.

Most Orientals are very averse to physical exercise. Their traditional idea of enjoyment is to sit under an awning, drinking coffee and playing backgammon. That a man should go out and run around a track in shameless nakedness, and this [ 49 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON with no hope of gain, only strengthens their conclusion that all Franks are mad. The Syrians are an imitative people, however, and some years ago the influence of the younger instructors tempted a few of the preparatory boys out for foot-races. But you cannot run a hundred-yard dash with long, baggy trousers and a silk robe which flops about your ankles. Even if you "gird up the loins" by tucking your skirts into your sash, the effect is more startling than speedy. Soon, one by one, the students ordered trousers from the city tailors. At first these garments were poorly cut and viewed with suspicion; but to-day there are hardly three men in the academic and graduate departments who wear the native costume outside of their rooms, and many of the students dress with an elegance that their professors cannot afford to emulate.

It was football, however, that did the most toward unification of the heterogeneous student body. The value of team-work is a comparatively new idea to western Asia and eastern Europe. Since the days of Alcibiades and Absalom the old ideal has been that of "every man for himself." If it had not been so, the history of the world might have been different. It was comparatively easy to understand the joy of winning a foot-race or a tennis tournament; but to play an untheatrical part in a match, obeying the captain and working for the good of the team—that was a very different thing. The students  [ 50 ]


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA play the association game, and it used to be the ambition of every youth to get the ball, and carry it down the field all by himself, while the audience cheered, "Bravo, bravo!" So the faculty arranged matches with the crews of visiting British warships, and from sad experience the college learned the value of side plays and frequent passes, and began to see dimly that good football is played, not with the legs and mouth alone, but with the head, and that hard team-work is better than grand stand exploits. That lesson may some day change the map of Asia.

The physical director of the college now has under his charge no fewer than eighteen football teams, besides twelve basketball teams, six hockey teams, four baseball teams and a cross-country running club; thirty men play at cricket regularly forty-seven hold certificates or medals of the (British) Royal Life Saving Society, and there are a hundred and thirty-five entries for to-day's field and track events.

It makes one homesick to hear the cheers. With the exception of an occasional "meet" with some mission school, like those at Jerusalem and Sidon, there is no opportunity to compete with rival  [ 51 ]


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Edward VI


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON. Indeed, there is no other college in the Near East which would have any chance of winning in competition with the "S. P. C." So the enthusiasm finds a vent in cheering for the various schools of the university and for the class champions. Three of the departments—the preparatory, academic and medical—are each as large as many an American college. The competition among these runs very high, and to-day a banner is to be given to the one whose members shall score most points. Now the various department "yells" have stopped for a moment, and an upper classman starts the college cheer, just as inane to read and just as soul-stirring to hear as are those of Harvard or Yale or Princeton. There is a good deal of singing, too. The college song, like that of Cornell, is set to the tune of "Annie Lisle," but the words are full of local allusions—

Suddenly an usher comes running from the gatehouse with the news that the governor's carriage is in sight. It can hardly be true, however; for it still [ 52 ]


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA lacks a few minutes of two o'clock, and it would be contrary to Syrian custom for an official of such exalted rank to arrive at the same time with ordinary people. Probably he will come at about three o'clock, and stay a half hour or so, just to assure the college of his good-will. Indeed, this will be the first time that a governor has even put in an appearance at the annual games. But, after all, the usher is right. The pasha is coming—three minutes ahead of time! There is hardly a consul on the dignitaries' platform; even the American representative has not arrived yet, and there would be no one properly to welcome the governor, if the president of the college did not throw dignity to the winds and sprint across the campus to meet him.

The escort rides in at a slow canter, with sabers glistening and accouterments clattering. First come young officers, handsome and foppish, their bosoms heavy with gold lace and medals, and their Arab stallions snorting and prancing; then follows the guard of grizzled, sunburned Lebanon soldiers, clothed in blue Zouave uniforms and holding repeating-rifles across the pommels of their saddles. Behind the soldiers are carriages containing the members of the staff and their ladies; and last of all, attended by out-riders, the carriage of his excellency. The pasha is a thin little old man with a gray beard and shrewd, tired eyes; and, in striking contrast to his gayly caparisoned escort, he is quietly dressed in [ 53 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON a dark business suit. He is a Pole by birth, a Roman Catholic by religion, a Turkish soldier by profession, and a gentleman by instinct and breeding. A son of the governor is also here. He is an attaché of the Turkish embassy at Paris, and one would take him for a cultured Frenchman. The wife of the attaché is a young American woman, a member of one of our best-known and wealthiest New York families.

Among the other guests in the seats of honor are a Greek priest, a Moslem mollah and a Druse emir. The senior missionary is telling the professor of philosophy how Yale used to play football back in the fifties, while the lady of the German consul is talking babies to the senior missionary's wife. The Welsh doctor, who used to live in Brazil, is talking French to the Italian professor from Cairo. The exporter of Damascus rugs is swapping Dakota stories with the Syrian editor who took the Arab troupe to the Chicago Exposition.

And in the middle of the field the official announcer is lifting up a megaphone to shout across the babel of tongues—

"Winner of the dromedary race, Saladin; second, Haroun al Raschid; third, Sinbad. The next event will be the high jump on enchanted carpets!"

At least, that is what one would expect to hear amid this brilliant theatrical setting. But instead the call comes in faultless English—

"All out for the hundred-yard dash!" [ 54 ]


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA In the finals of this race there are four men; a Greek, an Egyptian and two Syrians. Khalil Meshaqah, of the medical school, wins in ten and two-fifth seconds, without spikes, and on a dirt track without guiding ropes. The college is not ashamed of its athletic records. Among its prize winners this afternoon are the best jumper of the Island of Cyprus, the champion swimmer of Alexandria, and the Greek who won the hundred-meter race in the recent Pan-Hellenic Games at Athens. On the first few field-days the Greeks carried everything before them; indeed, on one occasion three Greeks from Cyprus made more points than all the other students combined. Now, however, after only a few years of training, some splendid athletes are being developed among the Syrians, Armenians and Egyptians. Of the six men who win most points to-day, four are Syrians, one is a Greek and one is a Scotchman.

The announcer comes out again into the center of the field and shouts through his megaphone, first in English and then in Arabic—

"The discus has just been thrown one hundred and ten feet, breaking the college record!" So the campus bursts into a new uproar of shouting and singing, and the students make quite unnecessary inquiries as to "What's the matter with McLaughlan?" while somebody tries to explain [ 55 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON what it is all about to the Turkish governor, who understands neither English nor Arabic, and the governor's daughter-in-law looks as if she were thinking of Travers Island.

It would take too long to describe all the events of the day: how Nedrah Meshaqah wins the thousand-yard "campus race," how Iatrou keeps the shot-put in the Greek ranks, or how Bedr breaks the record for the high jump. The real significance of the occasion is that it is all so like the field-meets of our American colleges at home.

The only typically Syrian event is the jareed-throw—and the javelin has since been included among American field-events. The jareed is a blunt dart about four feet long and an inch in diameter, and it is always thrown underhand. The Arabs use it in various games, somewhat as the old Greeks employed the javelin. At the college it is thrown for distance; and this is one of the most interesting contests, as it requires not only strength and quickness but a peculiar knack which it is almost impossible for a foreigner to learn. It looks very easy to one who has tossed baseballs all his life; yet when the American first attempts to throw the short, light stick, he sends it whirling around like a windmill. But watch that young Druse sheikh, as he carefully balances the jareed upon his finger, and then grasps it gently but firmly at the approved spot. A few slow swings of the arm to get the direction, a [ 56 ]


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User talk:124.104.126.164

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Page:Robert's Rules of Order - 1915.djvu/18

 Some of the motions are followed by figures not in the columns; these figures refer to notes giving useful information in regard to these motions. The Table of Rules is constructed upon the theory that it is best to learn the general principles of parliamentary law as applied to original main motions, and then to note in what respects each other motion is an exception to these general rules. Thus, the motion to postpone definitely, or to a certain time, has no stars or figures opposite it, and therefore it is subject to all of the above 8 rules the same as any main motion: to postpone indefinitely has two stars and the number 13 opposite to it, showing that the rules at the head of these three columns do not apply to this motion. The first star shows that debate is not confined to the motion to postpone indefinitely, but that the main motion is also open to debate; the second star shows that the motion to postpone indefinitely cannot be amended; and the number 13 refers to a note which shows that a negative vote on this motion cannot be reconsidered.

As has previously been stated, a star shows that the motion, instead of being subject to the rule at the head of the column, is subject to a rule exactly the reverse. Stars in the various columns, therefore, mean that the motions are subject to the following rules: (1) undebatable; (2) opens main question to debate; (3) cannot be amended; (4) no subsidiary motion can be applied; (5) cannot be reconsidered; (6) requires a two-thirds vote; (7) does not require to be seconded; and (8) in order when another has the floor.


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THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPIA lean backward until the stick nearly touches the ground behind, then a jump forward and a throw so long that his hand moves fully nine feet in a straight line before it lets the missile go with a furious rifling motion—and the jareed darts up and off with a queer little nervous twist like an angry snake, and drops nearly two hundred feet away, with a force that would have broken a man's skull.

It is a proud moment for thirty Eastern athletes when they step up to the platform where the governor and his staff are sitting, and receive their medals from the Norwegian wife of the American consul and the American daughter-in-law of the Turkish pasha. Everything is over now except the football game, and the governor has stayed through it all, thus giving a most signal mark of his interest and approval. He indicates his wish to retire, and the crowd gives way for his escort. The carriages drive up to the grand stand with much snapping of whips, and the outriders prance gayly around on their restive Arabs. But just then the football teams run out into the field, resplendent in their new uniforms; and the governor repents of his decision to leave, sinks back into his seat and motions the carriages to drive away.

The captain of the medical team is a great, bearded Syrian, six feet tall. The captain of the collegiate eleven is two inches taller, also a Syrian in name and very proud of his country and race, but with a sense [ 57 ]


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Page:Robert's Rules of Order - 1915.djvu/17

Every one expecting to take an active part in meetings of a deliberative assembly should become sufficiently familiar with the Order of Precedence of Motions, page 5. and the Table of Rules, pages 6-10. to be able to refer to them quickly. This familiarity can only be acquired by actual practice in referring to these tables and finding the rulings on the various points covered by them in regard to various motions. These six pages contain an epitome of parliamentary law. The Order of Precedence of Motions should be committed to memory, as it contains all of the privileged and subsidiary motions, 12 in number, arranged in their order of rank, and shows in regard to each motion whether it can be debated or amended, and what vote it requires, and under what circumstances it can be made. In the Table of Rules the headings to the 8 columns are rules or principles which are applicable to all original main motions, and should be memorized. They are as follows: (1) Original Main Motions are debatable; (2) debate must be confined to the immediately pending question; (3) they can be amended; (4) all subsidiary motions can be applied to them: (5) they can be reconsidered; (6) they require only a majority vote for their adoption; (7) they must be seconded; and (8) they are not in order when another has the floor. Whenever any of the 44 motions in the Table differs from a main motion in regard to any of these rules, the exception is indicated by a star (*) or a figure in the proper column opposite that motion. A star shows that the exact opposite of the rule at the head of the column applies to the motion. A figure refers to a note which explains the extent of the exception. A blank shows that the rule at the head of the column applies, and therefore that the motion is in this respect exactly like a main motion.


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SOME SALT PEOPLE Earnest faith, noble character and uncomplaining self-sacrifice are not sufficient equipment for the Syrian missionary. These qualities are indeed needed, and as a rule are possessed in generous measure. But he who is to exert any permanent influence for good upon this proud, sturdy, persistent, quick-witted race, with its almost cynical proficiency in religious argumentation, must also be strong of body, alert of intellect, tactful in social intercourse, and withal of an adaptability born not of vacillation but of a firm hold on the essentials of life.

Among the American missionaries, for instance, have been found champion athletes, splendid riders and marksmen, raconteurs of surprising mental agility, phenomenal linguists and surgeons of magnificent daring. One gained world-wide fame as an author and another as a scientist. A third was the best Arabic scholar of his century. If not of any century. Well-known American colleges have called—in vain—for presidents from Syria; and an important embassy of the United States was thrice offered to a missionary, who preferred, however, to keep to his chosen life-work—at eight hundred dollars a year. These men and women are not laboring here because there is no other field of endeavor open to them. They are very intelligent, competent, refined, brave, adaptable people, with deep knowledge of many other things besides religion, a broad vision of the world's affairs, and almost invariably a keen sense of humor; [ 145 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON people whom it is an education to know and a glad inspiration to own as friends.

In 1855 a leaky sailing vessel landed a cargo of rum and missionaries at Beirut. The rum was drunk up long ago; but one of the passengers, a tall, wiry Yankee, is still bubbling over with the joy of life. When I, met Dr. Bliss again in Syria last summer, he told me with quiet chuckles of enjoyment how, shortly after he came to the East, one of the older missionaries remarked, "Daniel Bliss isn't practical and his wife won't live a year in this climate." After nearly sixty years, the beloved wife is still with him; and as for being practical—there stands the great university which he has built!

Others helped him from the beginning—wise and generous philanthropists like William E. Dodge and Morris K. Jesup in America and the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Shaftesbury in Great Britain—but two thousand alumni scattered over the five continents will tell you that the Syrian Protestant College is first and foremost a monument to the foresight and tact and self-sacrifice and patience and indomitable enthusiasm of "the Old Doctor."

It was at first very small. A half-century ago there were but a few pupils gathered in a hired room. To-day the faculty and administrative officers alone number nearly four score, and a thousand men and boys are studying in the English language. The [ 146 ]


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SOME SALT PEOPLE institution is emphatically Christian, but it is as absolutely non-sectarian as Harvard or Columbia. Every great religion and sect of the Near East, including Mohammedanism and Judaism, is represented in the student body; and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that every student and graduate honors Daniel Bliss next only to God. As he walks through the streets of the city, men stop to kiss his hands—which embarrasses him exceedingly. Perhaps they love him so much because they are so sure that he loves them. Orientals are very quick to detect a stranger's underlying motives, and many a smooth-speaking philanthropist has been weighed by them and found wanting. But, during nearly sixty years' residence in Beirut, Dr. Bliss has lived such a life that his devotion to Syria and his affectionate interest in Syrians has become a tradition handed down from father to son.

He has known dark days and fought hard battles, yet he has never lacked a buoyant optimism, born partly of trust in God and partly of a strong body and a healthful mind. He has no patience with dismal, despondent prophets of evil. I never knew a man with a larger capacity for enjoyment. Good music always moves him powerfully. He keeps in touch with the latest European and American periodicals. He likes new books, new songs, new stories and, especially, new jokes. Active, alert, quick at repartee, he is passionately fond of the society of [ 147 ]


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON young people, and they repay the liking with interest.

A visitor to the college was once speaking of the attractive horseback rides through the country around Beirut. "But," he added, as he looked up at the white-haired president, "I suppose you don't ride any more." "No," answered Dr. Bliss with a resigned sigh, "I haven't been on a horse for—three days!"

He is getting on in years now, and a recent stoop has taken a fraction of an inch from his six feet of spare, hard bone and muscle. A decade ago he resigned the presidency of the college, whereupon, to his great delight, his son was elected to fill the vacancy. "See what my boy is doing!" he exclaims, as he shows visitors the new buildings which are going up almost at the rate of one a year. So now the Old Doctor just walks about the campus which he loves, and from beneath his shock of thick white hair beams an irresistibly infectious enjoyment of this superlatively beautiful world, where anybody who has the mind can work so hard and get so much fun out of it.

Did I say that Dr. Bliss is old? Not he! He would indignantly deny the imputation. It is true that he celebrated his ninetieth birthday last August, but what of that? He recently expressed an intention to live to be a hundred. When he was a stalwart youth of four score I heard him remark, "Let the [ 148 ]


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SOME SALT PEOPLE aged people talk about the good old times if they want to. I have no patience with such old fogies. I believe that the world is getting better every day."

Ras Baalbek is a little village some twenty miles north of the famous temples. Its thousand inhabitants are exceedingly ignorant and bigoted Oriental Catholics. The only native Protestant family is that of the school-teacher. There is also one American citizen—an adopted brother of ours who accumulated a few hundred dollars in the United States, learned a few words of English, and then returned to his birthplace, where he keeps the village khan, which has an evil reputation as a gambling-house. The Ras is cold in winter, hot in summer, and filthy at all seasons. The houses are built half of mud and half of stone; the streets are filled with unmitigated mud. A legion of fierce curs fill the night with their howling, and rush out of dark corners to snap at unsuspecting strangers.

It was not an inviting town, but we had heard that two American ladies were spending the winter there in missionary work; so, after we had turned over our horses to our fellow citizen of the khan and had dug passably clean collars out of our dusty saddle-bags, we went to pay them an evening call. Their house was not hard to find, for it was the finest in all the village, a commodious mansion with two rooms, one built of stone and the other of mud. [ 149 ]


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Taurellus, Nicolaus


text: Talk:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Taurellus, Nicolaus


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SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON When the door opened for us, we passed immediately from Syria to America and, under the influence of the warmth and refinement and hospitable cheer of the mud-walled room, our sentiments toward Ras Baalbek underwent a complete and permanent change. These quiet-speaking, refined ladies did not look at all like martyrs of the faith. It was hard to realize that they had immured themselves in the midst of a dirty, ignorant, fanatical community, and were living in circumstances of very real hardship and peril. In the street just outside, the dogs were yelping noisily. From a neighboring roof a stentorian voice called out what corresponded to the evening edition of a local newspaper. The village was informed that the robber-tribe of Beit Dendish was ravaging the valley, a prominent resident had been murdered the preceding night, and Abu somebody-or-other had lost one of his goats. In the bright, warm room, however, we talked of American friends and American books, and discussed the probable outcome of the Yale-Princeton game.

After supper we all went to the house of the native teacher for a little prayer meeting. He was a young married man with several children, but his housekeeping arrangements were very simple. There was but one room. The floor was of mud, the ceiling was mud and straw, the walls were mud and stone. In one corner was a big pile of mattresses and blankets; in another was a small pile of cooking utensils, and [ 150 ]