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　　358. Q. Could any third party have also seen these illusionary figures

　　A. That would depend on the will of the Arhat, or hypnotiser.

　　359. Q. What do you mean

　　A. Supposing that fifty or five hundred persons

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　　were there, instead of one, the Arhat could will that the illusion should be seen by all alike; or, if he chose, he could will that the messenger should be the only one to see them.

　　360. Q. Is this branch of science well known in our day

　　A. Very well known; it is familiar to all students of mesmerism and hypnotism.

　　361. Q. In what does our modern scientific belief support the theory of Karma, as taught in Buddhism

　　A. Modern scientists teach that every generation of men is the heir to the consequences of the virtues and vices of the preceding generation, not in the mass, as such, but in every inpidual case. Every one of us, according to Buddhism, gets a birth which represents the causes generated by him in an antecedent birth. This is the idea of Karma.

　　362. Q. What says the Vâsettha Sutta about the causation in Nature

　　A. It says: "The world exists by cause; all things exist by cause; all beings are bound by cause."

　　363. Q. Does Buddhism teach the unchangeableness of the visible universe; our earth, the sun, the moon,

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　　the stars, the mineral, vegetable, animal and, human kingdoms

　　A. No. It teaches that all are constantly changing, and all must disappear in course of time.

　　364. Q. Never to reappear

　　A. Not so: the principle of evolution, guided by Karma, inpidual and collective, will evolve another universe with its contents, as our universe was evolved out of the Âkâsha.

　　365. Q. Does Buddhism admit that man has in his nature any latent powers for the production of phenomena commonly called ”miracles”

　　A. Yes; but they are natural, not supernatural. They may be developed by a certain system which is laid down in our sacred books; the Visuddhi Mârga for instance.

　　866. Q. What is this branch of science called

　　A. The Pâlî name is Iddhi-vidhanânâ.

　　367. Q. How many kinds are there

　　A. Two: "Bahira," i.e., one in which the phenomena-working power may be temporarily obtained by ascetic practices and also by resort to drugs, the recitation of mantras (charms), or other

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　　extraneous aids; and "Sasaniks," that in which the power in question is acquired by interior self-development, and covers all and more than the phenomena of Laukika Iddhî.

　　368. Q. What class of men enjoy these powers

　　A. They gradually develop in one who pursues a certain course of ascetic practice called Dhyâna.

　　369. Q. Can this Iddhî power be lost

　　 *

　　A. The Bahira can be lost, but the Sasanika never, when once acquired. Lokottara knowledge once obtained is never lost, and it is by this knowledge only that the absolute condition of Nirvâṇa is known by the Arhat. And this knowledge can be got by following the noble life of the Eightfold Path.

　　370. Q. Had Buddha the Lokottara Iddhî

　　A. Yes, in perfection.

　　371. Q. And his disciples also had it

　　A. Yes, some, but not all equally; the capacity for acquiring these occult powers varies with the inpidual.

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　　372. Q. Give examples.

　　A. Of all the disciples of the Buddha, Mogallâna was possessed of the most extraordinary powers for-making phenomena, while Ânanda could develop none during the twenty-five years in which he was the personal and intimate disciple of the Buddha himself. later he did, as the Buddha had foretold he would.

　　373. Q. Does a man acquire these powers suddenly or gradually

　　A. Normally, they gradually develop themselves. as the disciple progressively gains control over his lower nature in a series of girths. *

　　374. Q. Does Buddhism pret…

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