Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/92

80 indigenous, for snake-worship was common to all the countries through which Buddhism passed.

Animism as a distinct religion.—But the animism with which this paper deals, and which I have called the pre-Buddhist religion of Burma, is something altogether apart from the Buddhist religion as now practised in Burma. It is frowned on by the monks, who keep away from its ceremonies. Yet its votaries, if they call themselves Burmans, are all professing Buddhists, and it must not be supposed that their professions are false because they think it prudent to propitiate the old gods. It has often been said that a Burman's Buddhism is a veneer overlying his real religion, which is animism. So far as this implies that his Buddhism is superficial to a greater degree than is the religion of the Christian, or than Buddhism itself in other countries, I think the statement is misleading. The Burman Buddhist is at least as much influenced by his religion in his daily life as is the average Christian. The monks are probably as strict in their religious observances as any large religious body in the world, and compare very favourably with those of other Buddhist countries. Most laymen, too, obey the commands against alcohol and the taking of animal life, though these run counter both to strong human instincts and to animistic practice. The suppression of these habits, while animistic beliefs remain and order the Burman's daily life, is surely a remarkable proof of the power of the Buddhist ethic as a moral force and the depth of its influence on the people.

To the ordinary European mind it seems strange that there should thus be two religions existing amicably side by side. Not only do the votaries of the one not persecute those of the other, but they may actually be the same