Book 4 (Part II)

I 12 Buddhist, Nibbana, was in any way different from their own goal, Heaven, in spite of the perfect plainness of the language in such dialogues as those between the Arahat Nagasena and King Melinda ; and their attempts to square the text with their preconceptions will always stand as one of the great foUies of the wise. Again, it is almost impossible for the well-mannered Christian to reaHze that Jesus Christ ate with his fingers. The temperance advocate makes believe that the wine at the marriage feast of Cana was non-alcoholic. It is a sort of mad syllogism. Nobody whom I respect does this. I respect So-and-so. Therefore, So-and-so did 7iot do this. The moralist of to-day is furious when one points to the fact that practically every great man in history was grossly and notoriously immoral. Enough of this painful subject ! As long as we try to fit facts to theories instead of adopting the scientific attitude of altering the theories (when necessary) to fit the facts, we shall remain mired in falsehood. The religious taunt the scientific man with this open-mindedness, with this adaptability. "Tell a lie and stick to it!" is their golden rule.