e highest development of the idea of stability,
quietude and absolute repose which impressed itself upon the human mind by
the observation of Polaris. The abstract conception of Nirvana, "the state
in which all individuality and consciousness are lost, and life and death,
good and evil, and every other possible antithesis disappear in absolute
unity," appears to me to be the natural ultimate outgrowth of the
primitive appreciation of stability and repose as the most desirable of
conditions.

An ancient American priest-astronomer, imbued with the native ideas, would
doubtlessly see in the modern figures of Buddha a more perfect artistic
rendition of the same conception which was expressed in the Copan
swastika. He might remark that, in the statues of Buddha, the human form
is intended to convey the idea of quadruple organization and that in
certain images the primitive symbols of the centre, "the belly and navel,"
are obviously emphasized. In the fakirs, who cultivate immobility, he
might see people who are under the absolute dominion of the ideal of
stability and detect the origin of this suggestion from the fact that the
swastika position of either arms or legs is a favorite one among Hindoo
fanatics, just as, out of devotion, many persons have swastikas painted or
tattooed upon their limbs.

It is interesting to note the peculiar result attained by the Buddhists in
their development of the twin idea of permanence, _i. e._ immutability or
immortality, as shown in the following quotation: "There is a remarkable
distinction between the Buddhism of China and of Tibet. In regard to
philosophy there is little or no difference, but in Tibet there is a
hierarchy which exercises political power. In China this could not be. The
Grand Lama and many other lamas in Mongolia and Tibet assume the title of
'Living Buddha.' In him, most of all, Buddha is incarnate, as the people
are taught to think. He never dies. When the body, in which Buddha is for
the time incarnate, ceases to perform its functions, some infant is chosen
by the priests, who are intrusted with the duty of selecting, to become
the residence of Buddha until, in turn, it grows up to manhood and dies.
No Buddhist priest in China pretends to be a 'living Buddha' or to have a
right to the exercise of political power. In Tibet, on the other hand, the
Grand Lama, as chief of the 'living Buddhas,' not only holds the place of
the historical Buddha long since dead, acting as