Introductory material
Reading edition
PREFACE
I. BUDDHISM IN SOUTHERN ASIA
I. BUDDHISM IN BURMA
1. AT THE GREAT PAGODA IN RANGOON (a) A Monastic School (b) Its Moral Teaching (c) Its Religious Instruction (d) The Importance of the Monks as a Class (e) Women at Worship
2. THE RELIGIOUS VALUES OF EVERYDAY BUDDHISM (a) What Buddhism means for Burmese Women (b) What it means for Burmese Men (c) What it means for Burmese Children (d) The Attitude of Burmese Students (e) The Better Side of Burmese Buddhism
3. CHRISTIANITY'S OPPORTUNITY IN BURMA (a) The Burmese are truly Religious in Temperament (b) They tend to view Gotama as a Saviour (c) The Christian Heaven is more attractive than Nibbāna (d) Moral Conditions demand a Vital Christianity (e) Loving Social Service finds its own Way to the Heart (f) Christianity can dispel the Fear of the Demon World
II. BUDDHISM IN CEYLON
1. ON A HILLSIDE NEAR KANDY (a) The Dullness and Superstition of Village Life in Southern Ceylon (b) The Themes of the Hillside Preacher (c) The Stolidity of his Audience
2. THE HOLD OF BUDDHISM UPON THE SINGHALESE (a) The Appeal of its Traditions (b) Its Work of Reformation (c) Its Leadership of Public Opinion (d) Yet Ceylon needs Christianity
3. TWO SHARPLY MARKED ATTITUDES AMONG MODERN BUDDHISTS
III. BUDDHISM IN SIAM
1. SIAM A BUDDHIST KINGDOM 2. THE THOT KRATHIN FESTIVAL 3. THE KING AND PĀLI LEARNING 4. BUDDHIST EDUCATION 5. THE TEMPLES OR WATS
IV. CONTRASTED TYPES OF BUDDHIST RELIGIOUS LIFE IN SOUTHERN ASIA
1. THE CREMATION OF A SINGHALESE ABBOT 2. THE FUNERAL RITES OF A BURMESE MONK 3. THOSE OF A SIAMESE PRINCE 4. THE SECRET OF BUDDHISM'S INFLUENCE
V. BUDDHISM AS A LIVING WORLD RELIGION
1. IT ATTRACTS THOSE WHOSE FAITH IN CHRISTIANITY HAS CEASED 2. IT DEALS WITH HUMAN SUFFERING 3. IT OFFERS A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM PESSIMISM 4. ITS GREAT FOUNDER CALLED HIMSELF A "PHYSICIAN OF SICK SOULS" 5. IT CULTIVATES A SENSE OF THE WORTHLESSNESS OF TEMPORAL THINGS 6. ITS CONCEPTION OF BLISS IS REALISABLE IN THIS LIFE 7. IT IS A RELIGION OF ANALYSIS 8. IT HAS FINE ETHICAL TEACHINGS, e.g. (a) The Four Noble Truths (b) The Eight-fold Path 9. IT NOW PRACTISES PRAYER 10. YET IT TEACHES STOICAL SELF-MASTERY RATHER THAN DEPENDENCE ON GOD 11. IT HAS TWO STANDARDS OF MORALITY: ONE FOR MONKS, ANOTHER FOR LAY FOLK 12. IT GIVES WOMEN A LOWER PLACE THAN MEN 13. SUMMARY
VI. THE MISSIONARY APPROACH TO MODERN BUDDHISM IN SOUTHERN ASIA
1. MODERN BUDDHISM DIFFERS FROM THE THEORETICAL BUDDHISM OF GOTAMA 2. THE CENTRAL EMPHASIS OF BUDDHISM VARIES IN THE THREE SOUTHERN COUNTRIES 3. SOME QUALITIES DESIRABLE IN MISSIONARIES TO BUDDHISTS (a) A Genuine Sympathy (b) A Sense of Beauty and of Humour (c) Strong Christian Convictions (d) A Desire to appreciate Fresh Truth 4. A GREAT OPPORTUNITY