As today in the modern civilized countries the statues of heroes, royalties, commanders of armies, politicians, poets, writers, and musicians are found exposed everywhere, and the Statue of Liberty reminds America of national freedom, so to a Buddhist the statue of Buddha speaks of spiritual liberation. Why should it be regarded as any worse if the Buddhists have the statue of their Inspirer between them, whose very image elevates their soul toward the highest ideals, and the life of renunciation and self-denial that their Teacher led?

Buddhism, being the rival and the child of Brahmanism, could not very well leave out the influence of its parent religion. Although Buddhism denies belief in all that is unproven by logic, such as God, soul, meditation, or harlot, yet the image worship of the Brahmans still exists among Buddhists in the worship of Buddha, and belief in reincarnation and the law of karma may be found inherent among the Buddhists.

Jainism is a religion vastly spread in India, the germ of which can be found in Buddhism. This aspect of Buddhism is most admirable, especially in its teaching, "Harmlessness is the only religion." The Jains are vegetarians, but, besides that, they do not harm even the smallest life. Many among them guard themselves against causing harm even to beetles, mosquitoes, ants, bees, scorpions, and snakes, which are so often found in a tropical country.

Their whole moral is based upon the principle of harmlessness, and their priests cause still less harm than the other followers of Jainism. In order to be least harmful, they avoid wearing shoes, avoiding two harms thereby: one being that the leather which is used to make shoes causes the death of so many lives, and the other that by walking with shoes one crushes and kills more lives than by walking barefoot. Some among them are seen with a little piece of cloth tied over their lips, for by walking with open mouth, as so many do, so many small lives are drawn into the mouth. A]so there is another reason, that is, to keep as much as possible from talking. Mostly inharmony and a great many other faults are caused by talkativeness, which is often needless.