buddha and buddhism 12

7/30/2019 Buddha and Buddhism 12

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CHAPTER XIIBUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA

NorwayOne portion of Her Majesty's subjects calls the fourthday of the week the " Day of Woden," and a still largerportion calls it the " Day of Buddha." Is there any con-nection between Woden and Buddha ? Professor MaxMiiller ridicules the idea ; on the other hand, the greatarchaeologist, Professor Holmboe, takes up the oppositeview. In the first place, the earliest traditions of theNorsemen and their earliest historians assert that theycame from beyond the Tanaqvisl (Don or Tanais), fromAsaland, from the city of Asgard ; and these Asas areidentified by the professor as the Asioi or Asiani ofStrabo and other classical writers, certain invaders ofBactria from beyond the Jaxartes. These Asas arrivedin Norway, and they have left behind them an abund-ance of monuments which prove that their rites, andtemples, and symbols are precisely the same as thoseof the Buddhists. The haug is a servile copy of thetope ; and its concomitants, the stambha or solitarytower, the circles of upright stones, the tank or lakefor baptismal purposes, and the sacred trees, are every-where found. Inside these haugs are discovered copiesof the coins of Bactrian kings of the first century A.D.,

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BUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA 199and also many Buddhist symbolsthe Swastica, theNandavarta, and the professor might have added, as Ishall show, the Triratna. To make his case more com-plete, the professor points to a line of these haugs andcircles stretching across Europe, which indicates thepathway of these migrating Asas ; and the w and b inSanskrit being identical letters, the word Woden, hepoints out, could have easily been manufactured out ofBodhi, Budh, etc.A rough heap or cairn of stones was the primitiveidea of the tope. In the tope par excellence the hemi-sphei*ical shape was adopted as the most complete repre-sentation of the heaven of the Buddhists. The tope atSanchi, near Bhilsa, in Bhopal, is a simple hemisphere,and was erected about the middle of the sixth centuryB.C., according to General Cunningham. The next oldesttopes are the smaller Bhilsa topes. In these the hemi-sphere is raised up a few feet by the addition of a cylin-drical portion. In the Afghan topes, which were erectedabout the Christian era, the hemisphere is still fartherelevated. In a fourth class of tope, of which the Sar-nath tope at Benares is a fine specimen, the cylindricalportion is as high as the diameter of the tope.

In India the origin of the tope is attributed toBuddha ; in Norway the haug is attributed to Woden.Snorro Sturlasen, in his History of the Ancient Kingsof Norway, thus writes : " Woden gave to the kingdomthe law which governs the Asas. He ordered that allthe dead should be burned, and their property shouldbe carried with them to the pyre. In this way eachwould reach Walhalla with his riches ; he would enjoyalso all that he had hid in the earth. The ashes wereto be thrown in the sea or buried."


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200 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISMLet us now compare the haug and the tope." The tumuli of Europe," says the professor, " com-

posed of stones, sand, and earth, have received the mostnatural shape for a heap, that of a truncated conerounded at the top. The topes of Asia developedgradually from the earliest cuneiform stupa or heap,which was replaced, to get the inner cell more solid,by a quadrangular wall surmounted by a cone. Thenthis construction was raised aloft from its base by acylinder. The haugs of Norway and the topes of Asiaseem to have had originally the same form, and thesole difference between these ancient monuments isthe more developed form of the topes, which have,however, always retained the conic cupola, striking amean between the cone and the hemisphere. In Nor-way and Tibet square monuments of the same descrip-tion are found, although these are exceptional. " Also,in Norway we find tumuli with a little tumulus at thesummit of each, as if to imitate the topes with theirbasement, which in Afghanistan is more often a heapof stones thrown together without order. In Jutlandand at Bornholm are tumuli of this construction."

Another point of resemblance traced by the professoris the immense masses of materials heaped up to producean imposing effect. The Valders haug at Valderoe, anisland belonging to Norway, is four hundred feet incircumference, and must have been once about thirtyfeet high. Another haug, the Ous Haug, is four hun-dred and fifty feet in circumference ; a haug at YttreHolmedel is four hundred feet in circumference. Turn-ing to the topes, we find that the Amaravati is fivehundred feet in circumference, and now about sixteenfeet high. This is about the height of most of the


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BUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA 201Norwegian haugs. The Bhilsa tope is five hundred andfifty-four feet in circumference. The Manikyala tope,between Attock and Lahore, is three hundred andtwenty feet in circumference. The haugs are con-structed without the use of cement ; with this exception,says the professor, a "more faithful imitation of theEastern construction was quite impossible."When we examine the interior of the monuments,the similarity continues. Topes are usually built up bythe aid of more than one cupola. A small cupola isconstructed, and then a larger one outside that, theintervening space being filled up with rough stones.Within the smaller cupola are sometimes found smallercupolas of metal (gold, silver, and copper), the onewithin the other, boxes holding probably relics andother precious treasures. This custom of making useof more than one cupola is also peculiar to the haug.One at Ostreim, in the diocese of Bergheim, is made upof three or four cupolas roughly built, the intermediatespace being filled in with rubble and turf, with coal,and then with more layers of rubble and turf, and thenmore coal. In the parish of Urland, in the parish ofLekanger, in the parish of Haus, haugs with interiorcupolas of similar construction have been found.

In the centre of both tope and haug is a quadrang-ular cell formed of flags of stone at a level with or justabove the basement. Narrow horizontal passages some-times connect these with the outside.

In their accessories the tope and the haug have freshpoints of similarity. Above the haug is often founda monolith pointed at the top. This reminds the pro-fessor of the spires of the topes, and, indeed, was plainlythe Ch'attra. Then, again, imitations of the tope rail-


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202 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISMing, imperfect, no doubt, from want of the power ofworking in stone, have been attempted in Norway,notably at the Kongs haug at Karmoe. Ranges of cellsare found, too, in both tope and haug. Ditches are oftenfound round both. Tanks, ponds, lakes, holy water ofsome sort, must be near these sacred edifices. The famouscircles of upright monoliths are also found near them.

" The articles deposited in the topes and the haugsare almost the same. In the inner cells of the topesfine raked mould is found, or sand and cinders, formingoften a compact mass. In some topes nothing else hasbeen found ; in others, beneath this mass of earth wereurns or vases containing earth of a reddish colour,mingled with ochre. Sometimes in these urns werefound human ashes and fragments of bones, and some-times, in addition, coins and ornaments. These vases areof gold, silver, copper, or iron. In one case a woodenvase has been discovered. Many of these vases, theone within the other, and the most precious one in thecentre, are found in the same cell. The ornamentswere deposited sometimes in the vase itself, sometimesin the surrounding earth ; and these ornaments consistedof pearls, precious stones, rings, golden bells, and othergold objects of various shapes, gold leaf, silver rings,etc. In the matter of glass and crystal, a few cylindershave been found, and two little phials, one of whichwas upset and had its cork alongside. It contained afew drops of fluid. In a silver vase a fluid was alsofound, brown and of pungent smell. Resinous andfatty matter has also been found in some of the topes,and fragments of bark and leaves. Once the bark hadbeen made into a box. Oval and spherical stones havealso been discovered.


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BUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA 203" Having thus enumerated the principal objects that

have been found in the topes, let us glance at the con-tents of the haugs. Their cells also contain fine mould(mixed sometimes with red sand and ochre), formedinto a concrete mass. Urns or vases have also beendiscovered, in iron and copper, in wire and in wood.Glass vases have also been found. These vases, of whichseveral have been discovered in the same cell, containhuman ashes, fragments of gold, ornaments, gold coins,etc. The ornaments consist of pearls, brooches, rings,etc., in gold, silver, and bronze ; specimens of gold andgold leaf, fatty and resinous matter, fragments of woodand bark, and a box made of the bark of a tree, havealso been discovered. One bell has been found, andalso, in a glass vase, some drops of a fluid, brown andpungent. Once a phial was found also having tracesof fluid. The coins, with one exception, are all in goldthe exception was a silver coin."

In the topes, lamps are found ; in the haugs, never,although in the cells of the latter there are traces ofsmoke. In connection with both topes and haugs aretraditions of phantom coruscations seen at night, whichthe professor connects with the lamps burning inside.Sacred trees and groves are near both topes and haugswhenever practicable. The viharas (convents) in Nor-way were built of wood, and have disappeared, butsome traces of them still remain. In Norway the armsof the faithful were frequently deposited in the haugs,but the tope builders always bore in mind that thegreat Buddha detested such things.

Let us sum up the results already established byProfessor Holmboe :

1. In Norway and the other haunts of the Norsemen


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204 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISMare found five religious erections and their concomi-tantsthe tumulus, the broch, the circle of stones,the tank, and the oval sepulchral hill, which fiveinstitutions belong to Buddha, and no other knownfaith.

2. The Asas profess to have come from Asaland andAsgard, beyond the Tanais, regions which from aboutB.C. 200 were Buddhist.

3. This history is confirmed by a line of circles andtumuli, indicating their passage across Europe toScandinavia.But it is when we turn from monuments to myth-

ology that our difficulties begin. Iceland has pre-served for us a rich crop of those myths in the " Elder "and " Younger " Eddas. And in these we cannot failto see at once a faith radically differing fromBuddhism. As in the Bhagavad Gita, the courage ofthe hero is apparently the first of virtues. Abundantflesh of the boar Ssehrimmer will keep him happyafter death, and many flagons of celestial beer pouredout by the Valkyries. But then it might be urged byProfessor Holmboe that the migratory race that trans-ferred Indra and his Apsarases to Norway might alsohave brought the Indian creed that upset India. Themost splendid haug in Norway is the Valders' haug, theTumulus of Balder,and Balder is a gentle god, peace-ful, forgiving, in fact, quite out of touch with the boosy,fighting Norse gods and men. Then, too, in Norserecords it is announced that Leif, son of Erick the Red,visited Vinland A.D. 1000. If Vinland is America, asis now believed, and if in America there are found anytraces of Buddhism, the case of Professor Holmboewould of course be stronger.


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BUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA 205Buddha in America

The popular notion that Columbus and his followerswere the first inhabitants of the Eastern hemispherethat reached the Western continent is becoming dissi-pated by modern research. M. A. de Quatrefagesmaintains that the discovery of the black man, thewhite man, and the yellow man amongst the so-calledaborigines is a proof of the distinct migrations of eachof those great human families. He shows that thereare many points where geography would assist migra-tions by sea. At Behring Straits the two continentsare brought close together, and the passage is partlybridged by the group of the St. Laurence Islands.Kamtschatka and Alaska, with the intervening Aleu-tian Islands, show another point of passage in thePolar rep-ions which the Tchukchees on both shoresfrequently use. The currents of Tessan, the BlackStream of the Japanese, have frequently cast floatingbodies and abandoned junks upon the shores of Cali-fornia. The equatorial current of the Atlantic opens asimilar route, leading from Africa to America.The Chinese books speak of a country called Fou

Sang, to which they sent Buddhist missionaries in thefifth century. Fou Sang is 20,000 li (a li is 486yards) from China. In following the course of theBlack Stream of the Japanese, these figures wouldbring us to California, where the abandonedjunks werestranded. Fou Sang means literally, the extreme east.Klaproth has combated the idea that Fou Sang isthe continent of America, and holds that it meantJapan. But M. de Risny has shown from a Japaneseencyclopaedia that the Japanese also were aware of


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206 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISMthese Buddhist missions to a distant land, which theycall Fou So. The Chinese writers speak of copper,gold, and silver being found in Fou Sang, but no iron.This description applies to America, but not to Japan.M. Paravey gives a Chinese drawing of the Americanllama in one of his books. " I have heard M. Castelnausay," says M. de Quatrefages, '"When I was sur-rounded by my Siamese servants, I imagined myselfin America!'" In the Geografia del Peru, by PazSoldan, it is asserted that Chinese recently broughtto the province of Lambayeque were able to conversewith the American natives. In the large folio designs,furnished by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, is onelarge head so boldly painted that it might well havebeen one of the Japanese embassy painted by a modernartist. Pearl fishery, and the employment of murexfor its beautiful purple dye, are other points whichshow the teaching of some Eastern nation.Humboldt and Laplace have detected points of simi-

larity between the astronomy of the Mexicans andthat of the Old World far too striking to be the resultof mere chance. The Mexicans had the twenty-eightmansions of the lunar zodiac, which, as I have shown,is far more ancient than the solar zodiac of twelvemansions. Humboldt also was much struck with thesimilarity between the symbols of the Mexican zodiacand those of the Buddhist Tartars. He pointed outthat the Mexicans have "nine lords of the night,"corresponding to the " nine astrological signs of severalnations of Asia " (the seven planets and the two greatserpents). The number nine, he asserts, was plainlychosen because it divides into the 360 days of the lunaryear.


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BUDDHA IN NORWAY AND AMERICA 207" The intercalation of twenty-five days in one hundred

and four years," says Laplace, " supposes a more exactduration of the tropical years than that of Hipparchus,and, what is very remarkable, almost equal to that ofthe astronomers of Almamon. When we consider thedifficulty of attaining so exact determination we areled to believe that it is not the work of the Mexicans,and that it reached them from the old continent."

It is to be mentioned that in the Mexican zodiac arethe ass and the tiger, not indigenous in America, theserpent, the horse, and what is of immense importance,the Makara (cipactli) of Buddhism.

Also they have everywhere the topes and standing-stones, and the serpent-symbols of the Buddhists, anda tradition of Quatzalcoatl, who forbade human andother bloody sacrifices, and substituted offerings offlowers.The Mexicans had the Buddhist rite of baptism,

The Mexicans had the Buddhist bloodless oblation,which took the form of little images of maize dough.They had processions, a hierarchy, religious commun-ities, periods of penance. They had secret mysteries,divided into three grades of initiation. They had thesign of the cross, also the mystic vase. They had atradition of a flood, and of the escape of one man. Intheir narrative of the deluge was also the incident ofthe dove. The priests of Cortes saw in all this Satanparodying the mysteries of Christianity. Even theintelligent Abbe Guerin, in India, was convinced thatthe Institutes of Manu were plagiarised from theLatin vulgate. Regarding the rewards and punish-ments of the future, ideas analogous to those of theBuddhists were found in the New World.


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208 BUDDHA AND BUDDHISM" Those who have gone to the regions of punishment,

they believe to be tortured for a time proportionedto the amount of their transgressions, and that theyare then to be transferred to the land of the happy,where they are again liable to the temptations of theevil spirit, and answerable again at a future period fortheir new offences."They held also that the world was supported on a

great tortoise, which animal was one of the most holyof their emblems.But the best proof of Buddhist proselytism is found

in the pictures and statues of the Mexican Buddha.He is called Xaca, which word M. Paravey plausiblyidentifies with Sakya. These can be seen in thedesigns furnished by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourgfrom Palenque. M. Paravey showed Burnouf one ofthese Buddhas without telling him where it had beenfound. The great Sanskrit scholar at once pronouncedit to be a representation of Sakya Muni.

I have only been able to touch on these great ques-tions, not to solve them. How it is that the propa-gandism of the Buddhist missionaries has been sosuccessful, and the work of other missionaries so fruit-less, would be an interesting inquiry. To this rulethere is one exceptionthe missionary labours of thehigher Christianity before it was tainted and stiffenedby contact with the lower,

buddha and buddhism 12

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