Page:Barlaam and Josaphat. English lives of Buddha.djvu/18

 xii is over us all, and the Professional Saint (Cleric or Philanthropist), or Professional Sage (Thinker or Professor), is an abomination. Yet while Virtue and Wisdom remain goals of human striving, the Ideals of Christ and the Buddha must retain their attraction.

Diverse as are the aims of the Christian and of the Buddhistic schemes, their methods are remarkably similar. They have a common enemy in what is known in Christian parlance as the World. The pleasures of the senses and the pride of power are the chief forces which deflect men from the paths of Wisdom and of Virtue. Till the New Man comes, who shall synthesise all four Ideals, the Christian-Buddhist plan of Renunciation must remain the necessary prerequisite of salvation.

The similarity of the two schemes extends far beyond their general plan. The legend of the founders presents a remarkable set of parallels—the Annunciation, the Massacre of the Innocents, the Temptation in the Wilderness, the Marriage at Cana, the Walking on the Water, the Transfiguration, find