Page:The Awakening of Japan, by Okakura Kakuzō; 1905.djvu/89

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

BUDDHISM AND CONFUCIANISM

Asia is nothing if not spiritual, but the man of the spirit is not one of names or forms. He comes, we wist not whence, and, like another Lohengrin, vanishes when revealed, to follow the quest mysterious in regions unknown. True spirituality forsook the luxury of the monastery and the ease of the academy, to take its rugged seat in the breast of the lonely ronin-scholar. Like the snow-covered narcissus pining for a glimpse of heaven, its silent soul bore the quenchless prophecy of spring.

69