The Opelousas courier., 1889-03-30
INTELLECT.
oriental Self - consciousness CornpAret
with oriental Self EfacemenE.

oriental Self C-onseIousness Compare0
with Oriental Self Placement.
MIR. Percival Lowell, who has been
identified for some time with the produc-
ton of t~heosophy in the United States,
has written a rather fantastic volume
entitled 1.-THE Soul of the Far East"
he says that the boyish belief that on
the other side of our globe all things
are OF necessity upside down is strong
~ brought back to the man when he
first SETS foot in Yokohama. If his
initial glance does not disclose the ma
tiyes in tn everyday feat OF standing
calmly their heads, an attitude
which hiheyouthful Imagination con-
celved tor ts a necessary consequence
OF their gle graphical position, it does
at least r,pAel them looking at the
world as ifreom the standpoint of that
eccentric ptteure. They seem to me
to see every G+Lg topsy turvy.
Intellectually their attitude sets
gravity at defian f5nctthey speak back
wards they wrls ofbackwards, they
read ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS is but the a
b C of their contrariehel The inver-
sion extends deeper thanf mere modes
of expression. Ideas whit thwe deem
innate find in them no htW VI while
methods which strike usohtall pre-
posterously unnatural appear I1be
their birthright. From the standffEsss
of a we umbrella on its handle in
stead of its head to dry to the striking
of a match away in place of toward
you there seems to be no action of our
daily lives, however trivial, but finds
with them It's complete reaction, equal
but opposite. Thus as we gaze at
them humor holds the glass and we
become the sport of our OWE rehec-
tions.
If the japanese ways look odd at first
sight they but look more odd on close
acquaintance. The spirit of imitation
is their most noticeable quality. They
have invariably shown the most adj
vanced free-trade spirit in preferring
to take somebody's else ready-made
articles rather than to try to produce
any brand new conceptions them
selves. The lack of inventiyeness uni
versal in the japanese is likewise true
Eastern civilization resembles more a
mechanical mixture of social elements
than a well differentiated chemical
compound.
Mr.. Lowell is of the opinion that in
spite of the sleepiness and dormant in
tellectuality of the people, a s%leepiness
which amounts to hamilton almost,
there are social qualities and even
moral qualities in the Oriental people
superior in many respects to those OF
the West. Our conception of a cosmos
is of a sunlit world throbbing with life,
while Nirvana finds not unfit express
sion in the still. cold, fathomless awe
of the midnight sky; but upon our idea
of a cosmos according to modern Chris
tianity we have succeeded in migrating
a civilization including monstrous vices
which latter themselves that they are
virtues, and in giving vigor, approvsl,
and endless momentum to vicious ten
denotes which we flatter ourselves are
noble and inspiring. In all this we
present a typical self-consciousness as
an antithesis to a typical self-eface-
ment in the Orient. The East is i'm
personal, the West is personal; the
East finds its highest idea of good in
total determination, the West finds
its highest idea of good in apotheosis
of the Individual.
Mr.. Lowell's volume is not always
easy of comprehension; it is, however,
always at least curious. 1t consists oil
eight chapters, in which he discusses
form, language, intellect and art, and
religion in connection with Oriental
customs and characteristics. - Chica-
go Tribune.