Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c7.s2.18

c7.s2.18

The paths of deliverance, by which these masters led their believers in quest of salvation, were legion; for us, who possess on this subject only the hardly impartial reports of the Buddhists and Jainas, their serious thought is, it must be allowed, covered deeply over with dull or abstruse conceits. There were Ascetics who lived in self-mortification, denied themselves nourishment for long periods, did not wash themselves, did not sit down, rested on beds of thorns; there were adherents of the faith in the purifying efficacy of water, who were intent on purging by continued ablutions all guilt which clung to them; others aimed at conditions of spiritual