It is but just, however, that I should own here, being far from an original, the bulk of the present volume is largely taken from the several works of older scholars of great fame on this subject, and the reader will, no doubt, also find many similar state ments through the writings of some Western scholars. Where I differ from my predecessors in this under taking is, that I have endeavored to compile the pres ent work in gathering materials considered only as orthodox Buddhism.