Professor Carpenter's Lecture.

Professor J. Estlin Carpenter delivered the sixth and last of his course of lectures, on the History of Ideas of a Future Life, last evening in Divinity Chapel. The subject of this lecture was Brahmanism and Buddhism.

The fundamental doctrine of the Bramanical Theosophy, he said, was that of the "Atman," or self. The importance of self was universally recognized throughout India, and its position in a future life was a subject of constant discussion among Brahman teachers. The self was the inner consciousness of a man, - it was the heart without passion or vice. It was not this inner consciousness alone, however, which made the ideal of self, though this perhaps was the most important element. It was the whole being of a man, body, thought, sensations, - a combination of all the elements which made the individual. The Brahman was the great self, the ultimate ground of all creative energy. The chief aim of the Brahman philosophy was to unite the self with this great self or Brahman. When this stage had been reached, transmigration ceased, and the delusive assertion of individuality died away. Eternal peace was achieved when the believer could say "Thou art Thou."

Among the early Buddhists transmigration was accepted without criticism. They endeavored to awaken the unconverted to the perception of the impermanence of all things. The question as to whether this doctrine of impermanence applied to the self was scarcely considered by the Buddhists. They strove to discourage ontological speculation in favor of practical morality. They believed in "transmigration of character," until all self - regarding aim is extinguished, and the craving which produced new beings was rooted out, and there was no further rebirth. The Buddhist taught that the eradication of all evil desires and the purification of the soul was the one fundamental aim of religion. As to the question as to whether the Buddha existed after the death, they refused to answer it. They believed in the existence of a realm beyond that of the phenomenal, the unborn, but the relation of the Buddha and the saints to this realm is left undefined.

Later Buddhism united the primitive belief with ontology derived from Brahmanical schools. Buddha was no longer the man Gotama, but the eternal and self - existent. With this expansion of the Buddha came the corresponding expansion of his mission of deliverance, carried on through many Buddhas - to - be. Mystical Buddhism strove to reach conceptions beyond sensual pleasure. It was the aim of the manifestations of the Eternal to make men partakers of the Buddha - nature. The goal of the true believer of communion, might be realized on earth by help of scripture and holy places, or spiritually in any world from hell to heaven.