In one sense, also, the solution of the mystery of God, of
life, and of the universe, which Gautama and his followers attained, was
one of skepticism rather than of faith. Buddhism is, relatively, a very
modern religion; it is one of the new faiths. Is it paradoxical to say
that the Buddhists are "religious atheists?"
The Buddhist Millennium in India.
Let us now look at the life of the Founder. Day after day, the
pure-souled teacher attracted new disciples while he with alms-bowl went
around as mendicant and teacher. Salvation merely by self-control, and
love without any rites, ceremonies, charms, priestly powers, gods or
miracles, formed the burden of his teachings. "Thousands of people left
their homes, embraced the holy order and became monks, ignoring caste,
and relinquishing all worldly goods except the bare necessaries of life,
which they possessed and enjoyed in common." Probably the first monastic
_system_ of the world, was that of the Indian Buddhists.
The Buddha preached the good news during forty-five years. After his
death, five hundred of his followers assembled at Rajagriha and chanted
together the teachings of Gautama, to fix them in memory. A hundred
years later, in 377 B.C., came the great schism among the Buddhists, out
of which grew the divisions known as Northern and Southern Buddhism.
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