270
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Until the lotus and the sea
And snake no longer are ,
And single through eternity
Exists alone
the star ,
And utter
Knowledge
rise and
cease
In that which is beyond
the Peace !!
Buddhism
may
be called
the religion
of
Science ,
notwithstanding
the
fact that it arose
in
the
East
hundreds of years before what we call modern science
was born .
The youth of systems , as of individuals ,
is lost in the mist of the past , unknown
to themselves ,
dimly apparent to others , they proceed through won
dering
childhood ,
ambitious
youth ,
maturity ,
and
decay .
The
crucibles
and
retorts of
the
alchymists
are but the toys of youthful
Chemistry ,
its
dolls and
tin
soldiers
:
God and devil
,
angel and goblin
,
are but
the fairies
of
Grimm
or
Andersen
,
or
the gnomes who
spring
through
the
flooring
of
Drury
Lane
to
the
amazement
of
little children
.
The human first adores
images
,
then imaginations
;
the little girl who loves
her doll will
neglect
it
to
tend
her
youngest
little
brother
or
sister
,
whom she will kiss and pinch
in
the
true fashion
of
the human
;
and when scarcely
in
her
teens will commence those necessary and attractive
adornments
to
enable
her shortly
to
have
a
real little
doll
of
her own
.
The little boy will forsake his brave
little man
in
tin
,
in
order
to
watch
the soldiers
in
the
park
,
or
turn
the coal cellar into
a
robber's
den
,
or
the garden
seat
into
a
pirate's bark
,
poetically
he
is
realizing
the
grim
struggle
which
lies
before
him
;
both doubt their toys
,
and eagerly peer into the dark
corridor
of
Life
,
which
,
alas
,
is
so
often but
a
Blue
Beard's
chamber
of
despair
.
So with
religions
and
|
The Argonauts
,
vol
.
ii,
pp
.
110-111
.