It is, therefore, to us as nothing.

The celestial world, that of the gods, is even of less moment to us.

What we know are the everlasting laws of nature, by obedience to which we rise, disobeying which we fall, by perfect obedience to which we shall at last obtain Nirvana, and rest forever.
To the mind of the Buddha, therefore, the world consisted of two orders of existence,--souls and laws.

He saw an infinite multitude of souls,--in insects, animals, men,--and saw that they were surrounded by inflexible laws,--the laws of nature.

To know these and to obey them,--this was emancipation.
The fundamental doctrine of Buddhism, taught by its founder and received by all Buddhists without exception, in the North and in the South, in Birmah and Thibet, in Ceylon and China, is the doctrine of the four sublime truths, namely:-- 1.