Buddhist Catechism

'Buddhist Catechism', composed in 1881, is one of Henry Steel Olcott's most enduring contributions to the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and remains in use there today. The text outlines what Olcott saw to be the basic doctrines of Buddhism, including the life of the Buddha, the message of the Dharma, and the role of the Sangha. The text also treats how the Buddha's message correlates with contemporary society. Olcott was considered by South Asians and others to be a Buddhist revivalist. Colonel Henry Steel Olcott [1832-1907] was the first western Buddhist convert, probably since antiquity. He co-founded the Theosophical Society and was its first president. The only contributor to the 19th-century southern Buddhist revival who was born a Protestant, Olcott was able to promote Eastern ideas to the western society. "e;I taught you not to believe merely because you have heard, but when you believed of your own consciousness, then to act accordingly and abundantly."e; (See the Kalama Sutta of the Anguttara"e; Henry Steel Olcott (The Buddhist Catechism)