In this infinite cycle, man may transform into a form other than his own, as his current form is but a fleeting stage of transition and may not truly exist in the record of eternity except in its outward appearance.

When Chuang Tzu fell ill and began to draw his last breaths, his children and wife started to weep. The sage Li, who had come to visit him, said to them: "Be still! Get out of the way and do not disturb him in the movement of his transformation." Then the dying Chuang Tzu whispered: "There is the mass of Nature that makes me carry this body, struggle in this life, exhausts my strength in old age, and then gives me rest in death. That which cares for my birth anew is the same as that which cares for my death. Behold, the Smelter pours the metals with his hand, depicting forms and shaping them; He is in the earth and the heavens; He is the Great Smelter."

THE FIFTH CHAPTER

"REINCARNATION AMONG THE JAPANESE AND THE GREEKS"

The doctrine of transmigration among the Japanese isvirtually identical to the Chinese doctrine, perhaps due to geographical proximity or the closeness of human origins in these two countries. Therefore, I will not write about it to avoid falling into the trap of repetition, and I shall instead write about the Greek philosophers and their belief in the doctrine of reincarnation, led by Pythagoras