In Mr. Murray's " Wisdom of the East " series,
which has already done such yeoman service in promoting a better understanding between East and West—between the old world of thought and the new world of action—Miss Helen M. Hayes' The Buddhist Pilgrim's Progress (Murray, 8s. 6d.) is the latest volume. This story has been a favourite for centuries in Japan, and Miss Hayes tells us that it has now been made into a ` movie." The author of " The Journey to the Western Paradise " (as the original is called) was a Chinese scholar of the sixteenth century named Wu Ch'eng-en : his object was to attract the simple minds and hearty appetites , of the multitude towards Buddhist philosophy ; the persons of the drama are the Master of the pilgrims.; Sun, the monkey ; Chu, the pig, the White Dragon Horse, and the monk Sand ; and each of these characters has a symbolical as well as an exoteric significance. Chu, for instance, represents lust, which the East has always believed can be turned into spiritual energy of the highest order when rightly directed.
i There is much information on Mahayana Buddhism scattered through these pages, and some quaint stories.
* * * *
Previous page
