There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the
worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It
is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there
was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to
worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point.
There are many _devil priests_. When any one is sick, it is supposed that
the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And
what can the priest do? He dances,--he sings,--with his face
painted,--small bells upon his legs,--and a flaming torch in each hand;
while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings--all night
long,--sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for
a white,--sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,--sometimes
reeling, and sometimes running,--and all this he does to please the
devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he
_pretends_;--but in _reality_, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The
people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it _tires_ them to listen to
the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five hundred and
fifty histories of Buddha; but it _delights_ them to watch all night the
antics of a devil priest.
What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and
obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests.
Pages:
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215