Note 12 — Chapter X · The Mother-goddess of China and Japan

At first only the souls of kings entered Paradise. But, in time, the belief became firmly established that the souls of others could reach it too, and be fed there. The quest of the “food of life” then became a popular theme of the story-tellers, and so familiar grew the idea of the existence of this fruit that people believed it could be obtained during life, and that those who partook of it might have their days prolonged indefinitely. For, as W. Schooling has written, “a few simple thoughts on a few simple subjects produce a few simple opinions common to a whole tribe” (and even a great part of mankind), “and are taught with but little modification to successive generations; hence arises a rigidity that imposes ready-made opinions, which are seldom questioned, while such questioning as does occur is usually met with excessive severity, as Galileo and others have found out”.12