In ancient Oriental mythology we have a
divine phenix, the only one of its kind and of
remarkable beauty, that living five or six hun-



2IO SERMONS OF A BUDDHIST ABBOT

dred years in the Arabian desert built a funeral
pile of Spices and aromatic gums, ignited it with
the fanning of its wings, sang a melodious dirge,
and burned itself in the all-purifying fire, only to
come out again in the freshness of youth and to
continue its former life. Is it not a wonderful
bird, this divine phenix of eternal life? But
more wonderful indeed is our spiritual life.
