"When a man is at the point of death, replied Mou, his family mount upon
the house-top and call to him to stay. If he is already dead, to whom do
they call?

"They call his soul, said the other.

"If the soul comes back, the man lives, answered Mou; but if it does
not, whither does it go?

"It becomes a disembodied spirit, was the reply.

"Precisely so, said Mou. The soul is imperishable; only the body decays,
just as the stalks of corn perish, while the grain continues for ever
and ever. Did not Lao Tzu say, 'The reason why I suffer so much is
because I have a body'?

"But all men die whether they have found the truth or not, urged the
questioner; what then is the difference between them?

"That, replied Mou, is like considering your reward before you have put
in right conduct for a single day. If a man has found the truth, even
though he dies, his spirit will go to heaven; if he has led an evil life
his spirit will suffer everlastingly. A fool knows when a thing is done,
but a wise man knows beforehand. To have found the truth and not to have
found it are as unlike as gold and leather; good and evil, as black and
white. How then can you ask what is the difference?"

Buddhism, which forbids the slaughter of any living creature, has wisely
abstained from denouncing the sacrifice of victims at the Temple of
Heaven and at the Confucian Temple. But backed by Confucianism it