Animal Magnetism
Animal Magnetism
Attraction of Spiritual Leaders
Attraction of Spiritual Leaders
by Francis Story
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Francis Story any manner without written permission from the author and
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Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Story Francis
The attraction of spiritual leaders / Francis Story.
ISBN 983-9439-03-0
1. Faith (Buddhism). 2. Buddhism Doctrines. 1. Title.
294.342
PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION
1997 AN INWARD JOURNEY BOOK
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Faith is vital in any spiritual endeavour. It is
Introduction
because of faith that effort can be exerted, mind-
Faith* is in the mental factor which inclines,
fulness established, concentration and under-
pushes the mind onto the wholesome object. If
standing attained. Like the foundation of a build-
you see a Buddha statue and you wish to put some
ing it carries all that which is above it, but is less
flowers at its feet, it is the factor of faith which
conspicuous, less distinguished by itself, compared
draws your mind to the statue, the representation
to such marvellous mental factors like mindfulness,
of the Buddha. If you read a verse of the Dhamma-
concentration or wisdom.
pada and experience feelings of joy and peace,
Faith has to be monitored! The agency which
then again the faith mental factor plays the role of
controls and balances out faith is understanding,
lifting your mind up to the Dhamma (as a non-
or wisdom. Unlike mindfulness which is always
Buddhist might either not read the verse at all, or
good, faith can take you onto wrong tracks if
else not appreciate the Dhamma in it).
associated with unwholesome intentions. Even if
In insight meditation the wholesome object on
faith is put on a wholesome object, for example
which faith is directed to is the understanding of
on the suttas or a capable meditation teacher, it
mental and physical phenomena, of their causal
can be excessive and thus lead you to do all kinds
relationship and their universal nature of being
of weird things. Faith has the function to clarify
impermanent, unsatisfactory and non-self. Faith
is the confidence that thrusts the investigating mind the mind. It is compared to the gem which purifies
with right understanding first onto the unique and muddied water. That is a very attractive mental
universal characteristics of mind and matter, and quality and sometimes taken as an end in itself.
ultimately on Nibbana.
An example: In a meditation centre a yogi is
sitting for a long time at the foot of the altar, gazing
* In Pall: saddha. According to the analysis of Buddhist psychology the
characteristic of faith is to place confidence In or to trust; its function to
into the beautiful face of the statue. The yogi is
clarify, as a water-clearing gem causes muddy water to become clear or it s
function is to set forth as one might set forth to cross a flood. Faith is
manifested as non-fogginess i.e. the removal of the mind s impurities, or as enthralled by it, wrapped in blissful feelings of faith.
resolution. Its proximate cause is something to place faith in.
Although she or he has a wholesome state of mind,
it is stuck on a pleasant inner experience, unable film star and was hailed as being, an Arahant
to observe and investigate the arising thoughts, (photographs of him hung in a thousand living
feelings, sensation, etc. with mindful awareness rooms) only to turn out to have had secret affairs
and thus progress to an insight meditation proper. with his female followers.
Because understanding faculty is lacking the yogi More interesting, and I think more challeng-
stagnates within a limited achievement of mental ing to be detected and understood, are the subtler
development. True, it is better to be lost gazing at a aspects of personality cult, occurring right in the
statue than, say, being lost in greed or despair playing midst of our community and our hearts. Can we
one s fortune on the stock market. have a good hard look at our own idiosyncrasies,
Based on his vast experience in teaching insight for example our tendency to put those whom we
mediation Sayadaw U Pandita feels that Buddhists consider noble and good up on a pedestal? Isn t it
in the West tend to be excessive in wisdom faculty, absolutely fascinating to see how excessive faith
while those in Asia are likely to overdo in faith and respect can affect our natural behaviour, as it
faculty. A Westerner might thus be too inquisitive is so often seen when meditators go to interviews
and critical to ever closely follow the instructions moving awkwardly and unnaturally, and experien-
of the teacher, and stick to her or him through all cing non too often a blank and stupid mind, simply
ups and downs of the practice. Asians on the other because they are overwhelmed by feelings when
hand might get stuck on worshipping all the monks reporting to a senior monk?
and nuns they see, neglecting thereby their own Exactly what happens when faith takes over our
mental development through meditation. capacity to appraise in a healthy way a given
And of course there can be excesses not only in interaction or teacher-student relationship? Let us
individuals but in groups too. The cases of spiritual use a concept from Western psychology to shed
teachers and groups succumbing to the seduction more light into this area.
of cult worship are legion. There are gross cases Western psychology says that the human psyche
like the Thai monk who enjoyed posing, like a has a powerful inherent tendency to project aspects
of one s mind onto people and things outside. Say others one also projects frequently positive aspects
you are alone at night in a hut in the hills. After a which, although they are present to some degree
while you get frightened, but instead of only having in oneself, are not sufficiently cherished and
the real fear within yourself, you project it onto supported.
the surroundings and suddenly the dark corners For example: I have a friend whom I admire
or the rattling of the wind become carriers of your highly for her ability to practice intensive medit-
fear and thus turn into threatening objects. Next ation with supreme effort. But this is an ability
morning when the fear abates, the corners will be which is present to some degree in myself too.
just corners again and the wind sing pleasantly. The projection might lead me to look outside
Even more dramatic in consequences are our rather than to discover, appreciate and develop
projections onto other people. Let s say you enjoy my own capacity.
gossiping. Instead of fully acknowledging your This is what often happens when people are
habit you project it on other people, detecting the under the excessive sway of faith. They see all
fault which actually exists to some degree in kinds of fantastic aspects in their idol aspects
yourself, only in others. And this happens with all which are more often unreal than real instead of
kinds of character traits, be it stinginess, anger, putting their faith into their own dormant abilities
greed, jealousy, insecurity, etc. to accomplish outstanding moral and mental
Think of what irritates you most in people you achievements.
dislike. The chances are that these are aspects The cure for all projections is to take them back,
which you don t dare to acknowledge in your- to repossess them, or, what this process is usually
self, as admitting to them seems to be too painful. called in psychology, to integrate them. For an
Projections are a powerful cause of confusion exercise write down three negative characteristics
and suffering, in our relationships. Projections per- of the person you dislike most. Then jot down
meate all of our human interactions on all levels. three positive aspects of the teacher or friend you
Besides putting one s own negative aspects onto admire most. Now take these six aspects back to
yourself: See where and when you display these practices. If you think such abuses occur only with
unacknowledged habits unconsciously and give others, you have already missed the point.
them some space in your heart. Work with them
Bodhis ra
as soon as you notice yourself judging somebody s
PENANG, SEPT 1997
behaviour as being way off. Consider where you act
in exactly the same terms. Look at the admired quali-
ties in your friend and try to appreciate the roots of
these qualities as they are present in yourself.
Whether you investigate faith according to
devotion to the buddha
Buddhist theory or Western psychology you will
There could be no question that the Bhikkhu
find that this single mental factor is much more
Vakkali was devoted to the Buddha: his adoration
complex than a one line definition might suggest.
1
was patent for all to see . Whether the Blessed
We have to contemplate faith, its characteristics,
One was preaching, meditating or walking, the
actions, influences, its manifestation and various
eyes of Bhikkhu Vakkali were always fixed upon
appearances in changing contexts, to become
him, raptly. Just as the eyes of a lover devour the
familiar with it and be able to use it in its greatest
form of the beloved, so the gaze of the Bhikkhu
potential. Faith is the indispensable foundation
dwelt rapturously on the majestic features of the
stone of any growth in mindfulness, concentration
Enlightened One.
and wisdom, which are the factors to propel us to
The Buddha was not pleased. Calling Vakkali
Nibbana. If faith is misunderstood and misapplied
to him in the midst of the assembly, he said:  Why
all the successive factors are hindered in their
do you constantly gaze at this body of mine, which
development, and Nibbana, the supreme freedom,
is transitory, subject to suffering and without
cannot be reached.
essence? Why do your eyes constantly dwell on
Francis Story s essay discusses faith, and the
1
abuses of it, in the context of religious groups and
See commentary to Itivutaka section 92.
this corporeal form, which is nothing but a sack These stories, which are just two out of many,
filled with impurities? Better would it be for you show vividly the Buddha s attitude towards cults
to seek out a forest retreat and there strive earnest- of personality. From the beginning, it was not the
ly to gain that liberation which brings all formations Teacher that was important, but the Teaching.
to an end. Bhakti, or devotion, has its place in Buddhism,
And giving him a subject of meditation he but it is a very minor one compared with the part
dismissed the monk. The Bhikkhu thereupon it plays in other religions. In India the personality
retired to the jungle, strove earnestly for insight, of the Guru was all important, as it still is today.
and after some time duly attained Arahantship. But, in his celebrated advice to the Kalamas,
Take now the case of the Venerable Sariputta. the Buddha warned against excessive adulation:
He declared, not boastfully but as a matter of fact,  Do not believe anything, he said,  merely on the
for the instruction of other monks, that upon authority of a teacher. Even his own Doctrine
examining himself he found that there could be had not to be accepted just because he, the
no event which would move him to sorrow, grief Buddha, a teacher of outstanding personality, pro-
or despair. claimed it. The Dhamma was to be accepted after
 But, he was asked,  would not a change in mature reflection, when its truth was discerned
the Teacher cause you sorrow, grief and despair? and its practice seen to be for the good and well-
 Not even a change in the Teacher would do being of all. Unreasoning enthusiasm could never
that, the Venerable Sariputta replied.  I should lead to the Right Understanding which is the first
wish that the Teacher would remain with us, for requirement of the Noble Eightfold Path. Man is
the benefit of many, for the welfare of many, out too prone to be carried away by unreflecting zeal,
of compassion for the world; but his passing would often with very sad results to himself and others.
not cause me sorrow and despair. And the Buddha Buddhism teaches that we should develop our
approved of his answer. Yet this same Sariputta judgment by exercising it at all times, correcting
was by no means lacking in reverence. and modifying it where necessary and applying
only the highest and most exacting standards to show that his act was one of simple charity, since
whatever is offered for our appraisal.
he no longer believed in their teachings. The Nig-
An example of this approach is found in the
anthas suffered much chagrin on this account, but
story of how an eminent layman, the General Siha,
it could not be helped; any other way of treating
was converted to Buddhism. Up to then he had
them would have been insincere on the part of Siha.
been a lay disciple of the Niganthas, or Naked
Cults of personality take many forms. All the
Ascetics. He went to the Buddha on behalf of the
world religions centre about one prominent figure,
Niganthas, declaring that he could overcome the
and to the casual observer it might seem that
Buddha in argument. When he failed to do so,
Buddhism is no exception. But, rightly understood,
and the Blessed One had expounded his own
this is far from being the case. The historical
doctrine, Siha became so firmly convinced of its
Buddha, the Buddha of our age, Gotama, is
truth that he wished to take refuge in the Buddha,
unique; but he is not unique in prehistory. He
Dhamma and Sangha on the spot.
always referred to himself as the Tathagata, mean-
Any other teacher would have been overjoyed
ing One who has gone thus; that is, in the way of
at the triumph, for Siha was a prominent and in-
previous Buddhas. He claimed only to be the
fluential man. But the Buddha restrained him.
rediscoverer of the ancient way, the ancient truth
Instead of welcoming him into the fold with
(sanantana-dhamma) that had been proclaimed
eagerness and making a loud public proclamation
by innumerable Enlightened Ones before him.
of the event, the Buddha very coolly said:
When asked his lineage, he replied that it was to
 Now, householder, make a proper investi-
this line of World Teachers that he belonged; his
gation. Proper investigation is right in the case of
Sakyan ancestry, noble as it was, meant nothing
well-known men like yourself.
to him, for he had chosen his own ancestral line,
Furthermore, he made it a condition that Siha
the lineage of those who had Gone Forth to home-
should continue supporting the Naked Ascetics,
lessness and had set the Wheel of the Dhamma
which he did. When they visited his house for alms,
rolling in previous world cycles, for the welfare
Siha duly fed them, but of his own volition he
refused to admit them beyond the outer court, to of all beings.
How did the Buddha wish others to regard him?
His answer is clear:  He who sees me sees the
tri-kaya concept
Dhamma; he who sees the Dhamma sees me. The
personality of the Teacher had in a very real sense
The greatly misunderstood Mahayana doctrine of
become identified with the Teaching. Realizing
the Trikaya originally issued from this concept.
that, as the Buddha insisted over and over again,
After his Parinibbana, the Buddha continued to
the body and mental formations even of the
live in his doctrine; hence the DHARMAKAYA, or
Tathagata were impermanent, bound to dissolve
Body of the Law. The body in which he taught it,
and pass away, the processes of the five aggre-
2
the NIRMANAKAYA, or Body of Manifestation, was
gates being the same, in that respect for all, we
not the supernatural docetic body it came to be
should look upon personality as a very evanes-
regarded as later on; it was simply the material
cent phenomenon. The Dhamma, on the other
aggregate of his impermanent processes of the five
hand, is eternal.
aggregates.
 Whether Tathagatas arise or do not arise, this
The SAMBHOGAKAYA, or Body of Bliss, was
nature of things continues, this relatedness of
phenomena, this regularity of phenomena, this law simply the mental formations that continued to
3
of conditionality .
function in him after the defilements were
In this case, a Tathagata had arisen, he had
extinguished so long as he continued to live
realized the truth, and the truth transcended his
(sopadisesa-nibbana). The mystical dogma of the
mortal personality.
Trikaya around which so much confusion has
arisen was a later elaboration of an idea that had
2
The five aggregates are body, perception, feeling,
been taken over from the simple words of the
mental formation and consciousness.
3
The Buddha says that things arise according to certain
Buddha quoted above:  He who sees the Dhamma
universal laws independent of the presence of a
sees me. His words were a direct statement of
Thatagata who can penetrate and explain them to
fact: as an ego-driven current of personality, the
people (Samyutta ii.xii.20).
ascetic Gotama had ceased to exist. What re-
mained was Bodhi, the supreme insight-wisdom,
(Å„ana-dassana) embodied in the remainder of a
current of existence that was one with the Eternal
Devadatta
Law. A man is what he thinks; the real part of him
is just his mental activity.
A sad example of this is the case of Devadatta.
The Buddha did not attract followers by the
He was a man who wanted to turn Buddhism into
display of supernatural power. To do so would
a personality cult with himself as the Personality.
have been, in his view, putting himself in unworthy
Very naively he revealed his true intentions when,
competition with others who could do the same,
asking the Buddha to impose on the Sangha a rule
if not cheating. He did not seek to impress by
against meat eating and other fashionable ascetic-
miracles; his teachings went beyond them. There
isms, he said:  People admire austerity. Indeed
are certain paranormal powers that can be culti-
they did, and there were many in the Buddha s
vated by anyone who has a mind to obtain them.
time who took advantage of this.
Occasionally, indeed, the Buddha and his disciples
Even some sophists who taught that there is no
resorted to them, but only when the people  de-
continuation of existence after death in any form,
manded a sign , and their materialism blinded them
and that there is no fruit of good or bad actions,
to a truth that was not supported by spectacular
practised extreme asceticisms. Why they did so
psychic or physical demonstrations. But in general,
must always remain an enigma to us, since even if
he condemned such exhibitions; first, because they
the lay followers admired their painful way of life
did not prove anything, except that supernormal
they could hardly have been impressed by the in-
powers exist, and secondly, because they are a
consistency of their thought. The idea of torturing
hindrance on the true way, too often giving rise to
oneself for the mere sake of doing so must surely
pride, self-delusion and the craving for renown.
have appeared strange even to Brahmins.
But Devadatta had clearly forgotten the
Buddha s first sermon, in which he stigmatized
self-mortification as a way that was painful,
unworthy and low. He was a man possessed by
the craving for honour and fame. And, unfortun-
ately for him, he was one who had also had great
blind faith
success in cultivating the lower forms of super-
natural powers (iddhi-bala). His driving force was
According to Buddhist psychology (and shall I be
ambition the ambition of the personality cult. Its
accused of bigotry if I say that I know of no psy-
culmination was his unholy alliance with Ajatasattu
chology more penetrating or precise?) an excess
which led to the downfall of them both. Devadatta
of faith (saddha) is accompanied by a correspon-
attempted to take the life of the Buddha. Ajata-
ding deficiency in wisdom. The critical faculty and
sattu, with more success, killed his own Father,
the capacity to believe must be justly balanced to
the saintly king. Greatly pitying him, the Buddha
produce a well integrated and mature personality.
later said:  If that prince had not killed his father,
Now faith is an inseparable element in devotion.
he could have obtained the highest fruits of the
So what are we to say of religions which place
Way in this very life. For Ajatasattu was endowed
these two characteristics, faith and devotion,
with good predispositions, and afterwards became
above all others? Yet that is exactly what most re-
one of the Buddha s lay followers. But, carried
ligions do, and there are even some forms of
away by the madness of ambition he had com- Buddhism that are not exempt from this reproach.
mitted a deed, one of the four grave kammic act- When Kierkegaard (following Tertullian) cried
in anguish,  I believe, because it is absurd! he
ions (garuka kamma), which made it impossible for
was stating more defiantly the position of the
him to attain the Path and Fruit of Arahantship in the
mystic who prays,  Lord, I believe; help thou my
same life, and perhaps not for many lives to come.
unbelief! Today we see the disintegration of great miracles which proved it, and gave moral teachings
world religions in which dogma after dogma is the world had never received before, and had not
being painfully discarded, until only the personality equalled since, our hypothetical modern Zoro-
of the founder is left. astrian believes none of these things. He may not
When religion has reached that stage, whatever even believe that there is a God. He does cling,
name it may bear, it denotes nothing more than pathetically, to the belief that Zoroaster s moral
the label of a devotee of some particular person- code is superior to all others, in spite of all the
4
ality. The Zoroastrian who does not believe in evidence to the contrary, and that is all. He still
any of Zoroaster s teachings or pretensions is just continues calling himself a Zoroastrian, and per-
somebody who has a reverence for Zoroaster as a haps holds a high position in the Zoroastrian
person, who tries to rationalise it by claiming that priesthood; but in actuality he is nothing but an
Zoroaster was the only teacher who proclaimed uncritical adherent of the personality cult of Zoro-
the brotherhood of man, or taught us to love our aster. A strange situation indeed: but we see its
neighbour as ourselves, or to return good for evil, counterpart today in what is happening to the cult
regardless of the fact that there have been innumer- that was once rivalled by Manichaeism, but which
able other religious leaders who have given the survived it to become a world religion.
same exhortations. Zoroastrianism then is nothing The Buddhist position is very different from this.
more than the personality cult of Zoroaster. You cannot have a personality cult without a
Whereas Zoroastrians formerly believed, in all personality. We may go so far as to say that even
sincerity, that Zoroaster was a god, or the son of if it were to be definitively established that the
god, or a prophet of god, and that he worked Buddha was not an historical person, but simply
the solar myth which European Indologists at one
4
 The Zoroastrian has been taken here as Just a random
time believed him to be even if it were to be
example for the follower of a religion that centers In a charis-
matic personality. No discriminating reflection is intended
proved that the Buddha never existed, still Buddh-
here on Zoroastrianism, ancient or modern.
ism would remain. The Dhamma would be scarcely
affected by it, because the doctrine of liberation or at the very least as a very advanced soul ready
does not depend upon the Buddha. It rests upon to attain union with the universal soul (param-atman).
its own intrinsic truth, a truth which can be proved, Between the devotees of these gurus there are
 by each for himself . The Dhamma would remain often sectarian rivalries and some of them show a
what it is the supreme evidence of man s power good deal of pride in being associated with one
to transcend ignorance and penetrate the real nat- whom they regard as a manifestation of the
ure of the world; a truth that carries its own con- Supreme. The teachings of the rival gurus are
firmation in actual human experience, a realization published; but when we read them, the feature that
that can be known, understood and lived, by any- impresses us most is their sameness. Each one says
one who cares to make the effort. precisely the same thing, in almost exactly the same
In Buddhism, many of the norms of religion are way; and most of the teachings which are found
reversed, and in nothing more than this: that it is to be so inspiring by others are nothing but thread-
not the Buddha whose existence proves the truth bare clichés. When you have read one of them,
of Buddhism; it is the truth of Buddhism which you have read all. Philosophically, they are neg-
proves the existence of the Buddha. ligible, and as spiritual instruction valueless.
Confronted by this phenomenon, we are bound
to ask ourselves: What is the secret of the immense
hold these teachers have over the minds of their
followers? How is it that large numbers of intelli-
animal magnetism
gent persons, of East and West, are able to listen
enraptured for hours while the guru spins out
We return now to the cult of the Guru, which I
platitude after platitude, repeating over and over
mentioned earlier. In the main stream of religious
again the same formulas, quoting and re-quoting
thought, spiritual teachers abound. Each has his
himself and others, endlessy, forever repeating the
disciples, who regard him as an incarnation of God
same hackneyed theme?
The answer, of course, is that the typical ashram is hardly equal to the task of producing a third
is the centre of a personality cult. What the guru rate religious tract. The devotee sits before the
says, or does not say, matters nothing. All that guru and gazes at him in a happy daze; his thoughts
matters is his personal magnetism, within the aura are caught up in a luminous cloud, the hard con-
of which the critical faculty is lulled into a peaceful tours of reality dissolve and he feels himself
euphoria. absorbed, all his petty personal cares vanish away
Now this personal magnetism is a very real with his lost sense of identity, floating in a vibrant
psychic phenomenon, and it can be cultivated. It field of love, the love of the guru embracing him,
does not depend upon intelligence, wisdom or and his own love going out to the guru who is
personal beauty, although the latter helps consider- God. It is the apotheosis of the personality cult.
ably in creating an initial sympathy in the devotee. The Buddhist Bhikkhu sets out, by invitation,
It is rather a something in the nature what Mesmer to preach the Dhamma. He carries in his hand a
called  animal magnetism , a psycho-physical force large palm fan, and when he delivers his discourse
that can be generated and projected outwards as he holds the fan before his face. This is an ancient
an adjunct to the will. And this, more than anything tradition of preaching Dhamma in every Buddhist
else, is the secret of the devotion that surrounds country. All the time he is preaching his eyes are
so many teachers who have nothing to teach, so fixed on the fan. He is not orating; he is not, like
many prophets who have never prophesied, so the Ancient Mariner, fixing anyone with his glitter-
many miracle workers whose only miracle was to ing eye; above all, he is not trying to put his own
suggest to others that they have seen something personality across. If his hearers are to be influenc-
that never occurred. ed, it must be only by the Dhamma, by the words
The power to still the minds of others, to impart of truth penetrating their understanding, being
to them the impression that they have experienced weighed in the balance of their own judgment. In
ineffable peace, indescribable bliss this is the mag- this way the Dhamma is taught. It is the antithesis
net that draws people to a guru whose intelligence of the personality cult.
ceed in convincing themselves that they are in a
superior intellectual category compared to the
mere criminal gangster.
hero worship
In fact, they are less honest. The sophisticated
Hero worship is a universal tendency, and can
youth who worships some blackshirted, topbooted
be of great benefit if the model chosen is a good
ruffian who claims to have a political philosophy
one. But very often immature minds are prone to
is rather worse off than the boy from a different
identification with models who represent the baser
social level who admires and emulates an under-
instincts and give a kind of sanction to violence,
world character, for he is adding self-deception
lawlessness and rebellion against society or the
to his other personality defects. Few young people
prevailing order of things. Among young people,
today are driven into crime by sheer want, as was
and not exclusively of the male sex, the more
formerly the case; for the most part, their absorp-
undeveloped seek identification with the more
tion into the underworld comes about through the
violent types they see in motion pictures and on
desire to emulate some gang leader whom they
television; later, they tend to come under the in-
have chosen for their idol. Exactly the same is the
fluence of older men who introduce them to crime.
case of the young or not-so-young follower of a
Others, who desire a more respectable pattern
political extremist; he seldom has the least con-
to follow, but are subconsciously activated by the
ception of where his adopted cult of violence is
same urge to express themselves in destructive
leading, but is content to follow the figurehead
action, may join some subversive political group
having as its head a leader who represents all they and persuade himself that the aggressive activities
wish to become. From this category come the he enjoys are motivated by a high purpose, directed
groups of political extremists who take part in
towards a worthy end.
riots, racial persecutions and terrorism of all kinds.
Misguided hero worship as the basis of person-
By rationalizing their destructive drives they suc-
ality cults is responsible for much of the disruption
of present day society. It is unfortunately facilitated
Books by Francis Story
by improved means of communication. Ideas soar-
Francis Story s writings show the result of a
ed with a rapidity unknown before, and the person-
successful marriage of a Western inquiring mind and
alities of those who initiate them are projected
the Eastern philosophy and psychology of Buddha
pictorially on cinema and television screens with
Dhamma. Instead of blindly accepting Buddhist
an almost hypnotically compulsive force. The
teachings Story digests them, tests them and relates
influence they come to have upon impressionable to the reader what deeply relevant lessons he found
minds is incalculable; science, with its most sophis- in texts which are many hundred years old.
Although Francis Story passed away more than
ticated techniques of evaluating public reactions
twenty years ago, his studies and essays remain
by statistical surveys is unable to furnish any data
modern and are a lively source of inspiration and
on this point, and social psychology can only give
understanding.
indications, some of which are alarming enough.
The Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy published
The people who know most about it are not
the complete work of Francis Story in three volumes:
those concerned with the mental health of the pop-
ulation, but only with selling things the adver- Volume I THE BUDDHIST OUTLOOK
Collected Writings
tising specialists and publicity experts. They alone
It contains wide ranging and brilliantly written
are able to gauge the cumulative effect of con-
essays, dialogues and poems on 382 pages.
stantly repeated visual and auditory suggestion,
Volume 2 REBIRTH AS DOCTRINE
and social psychologists would do well to turn to
AND EXPERIENCE
them for information. The media of mass com-
Essays and Case Studies.
munication are likely to prove a dangerous liability
All of Francis Story s writings on death and
rather than an asset to mankind if something is
rebirth in one book of 286 pages.
not done to check the flow of unwholesome ideas
Volume 3 DIMENSIONS OF BUDDHIST THOUGHT
they are increasingly being made to serve.
Collected Essays contributed to the serial public-
ation The Wheel and Bodhi Leaves, 454 pages.