I beUeve all Japanese are familiar with the
story of Kusunoki Masashige, who exclaimed in
his last moment that he would be reborn seven
times and protect his royal family against the
enemy. You also know well the anecdote of the
late Commander Hirose, who expressed the same
sentiment in one of his last poems. But in point
of fact these heroes are not only seven times
reborn, but infinitely, so long as this universe
endureth and humanity survives. Do not think
for a moment that this is merely theoretical and
has no concrete significance. Far from it. We
who are breathing to-day the spirit of the illus-
trious general and the valiant sailor are no
more nor less than their reincarnations. Those
who come after us and become possessed of the
same sentiment are their and our spiritual descend-
ants. Rebirth does not mean the reawakening of
the dead. Reincarnation does not mean the
resuscitation of a dried-up mummy. The immor-
tality of the soul does not mean the continuation
of the individual soul as conceived by most
religionists. The spirit is not a thing material



A MEMORIAL ADDRESS 211

and sensual, however ethereally or astrally you
may conceive it. It is a transcendental exist-
ence, which knows no limiting conditions such as
space, time, or causation. Where you feel a
noble feeling, where you think a beautiful
thought, where you do a self-sacrificing deed,
there is the spirit making itself felt in your con-
sciousness.
