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This small book is an eclectic collection of short essays that the author wrote on Ceylon. Though it says Buddhist Ceylon, all the essays are not on Buddhism alone; there are six essays offered: a Buddhist Sabbath in Ceylon; Olcott day at Galle; the Story of the Weavers Daughter; an Ordination for the Buddhist Monk; at the foot of a tree; and the last essay is on the Metteyya (Maitriya) Bodhisattava. In the first chapter, the author describes --the light is breaking in the east. Already in the gloom of the tall trees the squirrel`s strange chirping bark is heard, and the hoarse grating cough of the monkey mingles with the coppersmith`s metallic note and the earliest pipe of half-awakened bird Dawn is at hand. Already ka-ka, the black crow, is impudently demanding his early meal. Yet a few moments and the sun will strike the brass pinnacle of the temple, and we must offer flowers as he rises, so let us hasten onwards. It is a Buddhist holy day, New Moon or Full Moon in the dry season, or maybe Wesak Day, the day of days, in Lanua-Dipa, the land beloved of the children of the Lord, the fairest isle on earth, where the yallow robe still studs the palm-groves, and the white dome of the dagaba gleams beyond the nameless blue-green of the tracts of paddy-fields. Thus this book is full of fascinating stories to make it worth-readable. It contains a portrait of a Buddha-Rupa and seven illustrations, which was first published in 1914.
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ISBN : 9788121238939
Pages : 89
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