The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-28

A Page from a Forthcoming Book by the
Presidents Sister.

New YORK, May 27,-The title of the book
soon to be issued by Miss Cleveland has not yet
been chosen, but the authoress will soon select
one of two names she has decided upon. In the
forthcoming work she deals with art and poetry,
Monastic institutions, Joan of Arc, the age of
chivalry. and makes Charlemagne her hero In
one Of her chapters is found this bit of distinc-
ton between the Buddhistic and the Western
idea of life and its value:
"The Eastern mystic realizes thus mans life,
as men live it, being filled with selfish passion, is
not worth iving--cannot be in the nature of
things 1t is vain to try to make it So The in
div idual will never subordinate selfish passion to
altruistlc faith-passion will sLbtly work for
SELF and surely under any strivings Of faith for
Others 1t Is time wasted to attempt to make the
Ego good for something; it is good for nothing;
good only to lose. One connot be-nay, not
meant to be (since he cannot be-! anybody in
particular; therefore the summum bonum is to
lose the one in the all--which is Nrvaua. He
does not even dwell upon the possibility OF a
nobier alternative It is inconceivable that
tense individual life, can ever, save as
the dupe of demon deceivers who pervert per-
ception and destroy reflection, have conscious
thrill of exutation in his individual life, because
he knows that there has good come to the race
which, except for this his individual, would not
have come. No, no-the only best is to lose the
Ego. the one bliss is the luxury of its nullifca-
ton, be has no more to choose FROM he admits
no better than his best. But his blame is below
the highest he dwells upon the stair. and forever
just misses the landing
MANY more than the Eastern mystic move on
this plane, dwell on this stair, aud miss the land
ing
''But our Western Buddhist cannot be so joy
GUS in his pessimism, because he cannot be so
selfish. He belongs to the impelled. for
ward moving race the restless, pushing genius,
the genius which admits no condition of we'll
enough to be let alone; the race in which men
may feed upon the Bible and thus believe in
Christ This Western thinker knows an alterna-
tive is possible and is nobler. He knows thus
the intensest individual life is the highest duty
of the man created in Gods image. Thus the
supremest living is to fully bring out this
image of the Father in the Son.. in
of this Son, each for himself separate and
distinct from all other individuals of the human
family; and he feels the pain of this response
bility which no one can lift from him. this
responsibility of the development and fruit of
the Ego that Ego he can never hide from final
omnipotent scrutiny or sentence.
"And he knows thus, because of his fatal GER
tainty here that he cannot innocently receive or
give the Eastern mystic his company. lie
knows that for him that Eastern my site s CHEST
would be his very lowest, because he knows the
better. He knows his life can be worth living;
that therefore he can never be bameless in
losing it. He knows that, whatever it may con-
sciously be to the Brahmin, to him it must con-
sciously be the most hideous and gigantic selfish
ness to put all things behind him except the
extinction of self. To sit cross-legged under a
palm tree extinguishes the Ego. i. e., throws off
all responsibilities to others, in order to attain
the eternal responsibility.
mo. We of the West each know the truth
We writhe and vince under it. We would
willingly shirk it, but we cannot. Each of us is
born to be somebody in particular to somebody
else, and this our raison detre, is the only So
luton of our being at ALL If this answers not
the question, is life worth livingP then there is
no answer to that question"