Author: win r

"The true doctrine of Buddha says that the demons, when nature produced the sun, moon, and stars, were human beings, but, on account of their sins, they fell from the state of felicity. If they commit greater sins, they suffer greater punishments, and condemned men are reckoned by them among the devils; while, on the [...]

"Another good reason why the Hindus should not worship the "Devil" is that they have no word to convey such a meaning. They call these spirits "puttam", which answers rather to our "spook", or malicious imp; another expression they use is "pey" and the Sanscrit pesasu, both meaning ghosts or "returning ones" - perhaps goblins, [...]

"That they are human spirits is shown by the fact that very often they try to humor and propitiate the "larvae" of their own daughters and relatives, when they have no reason to suspect that the latter did not die in the odor of sanctity and chastity. Such spirits they name "Kanni", bad virgins. The [...]

"As for the wonderful powers of prediction and clairvoyance possessed by certain Brahmans, they are well-known to every European resident of India. If these upon their return to "civilized" countries, laugh at such stories, and sometimes even deny them outright, they only impugn their good faith, not the fact. These Brahmans live principally in "sacred [...]