Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Soul's Awakening
Scene 15
The same. Doctor Strader's Nurse sits waiting. Enter the Secretary.
Secretary:
Soon Benedictus will, I hope, appear
And hear himself the message thou dost bring:
He went a journey and hath just returned.
A great man surely doctor Strader was.
At first I did not have much confidence
In Hilary's tremendous plan of work;
But, as I frequently was in the room
Whilst Strader was engaged in showing him
What further needs his plan of work involved,
All my objections swiftly lost their force.
Aye full of spirit, with the keenest sense
For all things possible and purposeful,
He yet was ever heedful that the goal
Should issue clear, nor would he e'er forestall
With flight of fancied thought his labour's end.
He held himself quite as a mystic should;
As people who are anxious to behold
A lovely view from some tall mountain-crest
Keep plodding on till they have reached the top
Nor try to paint the picture in advance.
Nurse:
A man of lofty spirit and great gifts
Thou knewest hard at work in active life.
I, in the short time it was given me
To render earth's last services to him
Learned to admire his loftiness of soul.
A sweet soul, that, except for seven years
Of utmost bliss, walked aye through life alone.
Their wisdom mystics offered him,—but love
Was all his need;—desire for outward deeds
Was naught but love. Love seeks for many forms
Of life in which to manifest.
And what his soul sought on the mystic path
Was needful to his being's noble fire,
As sleep is to the body after toil.
Secretary:
In him the mystic wisdom was the source
Of outward deeds as well; for all his work
Was ever fully steeped in its ideals.
Nurse:
Because in him love was a natural law,
And he had to unite himself in soul
With all the aspirations of his life;
E'en his last thoughts were still about the work
To which in love he did devote himself—
As people part from beings whom they love
So Strader's soul reluctantly did leave
The work on earth through which his love had poured.
Secretary:
He lived in spirit with full consciousness:
And Theodora was with him as aye
She was in life—true mystic souls feel thus.
Nurse:
Because his loneliness knit him to her,
She stood before him still in death. By her
He felt that he was called to spirit-worlds
To finish there his incompleted task.
For Benedictus just before his death
He wrote a message which I now have come
To give into the mystic leader's hands.
So must the life of this our time on earth
Unfold itself yet further, full of doubt;—
But brightened by sun-beings such as he,
From whom a wider number may receive,
Like planets, light-rays which awaken life.
(Enter Benedictus left. Exit Secretary right.)
Before his strength departed, Strader wrote
These few lines for thee. I have come to bring
His message to his faithful mystic friend.
Benedictus:
And as he set this message down for me
What were the thoughts which occupied his soul?
Nurse:
At first the latest of his plans in life
Lived in his thought; then Theodora came
To join him in the spirit; feeling this
His soul did gently leave its body's sheath.
Benedictus:
My thanks to thee, thou faithful soul, for all
Thy services to him whilst yet on earth.
(Exit Nurse. Benedictus reads Strader's last words.)
(reading)
‘My friend, when I perceived my strength was spent
And saw that opposition to my work
Did not alone from outward sources rise,
But that the inner flaws of my own thought
Were obstacles to check my plan's success,
Once more I saw that vision which I told
Not long ago to thee. But yet this time
The vision ended otherwise. No more
Was Ahriman my foe; a spirit stood
There, in his stead, whom I could clearly feel
To represent my own erroneous thought.
And then did I remember thine own words
About the strengthening of mine own soul's powers.
But thereupon the spirit disappeared.’—
There are a few more words,—but I cannot
Decipher them—a chaos covers them
By weaving in a veil of active thought.
(Ahriman appears; Benedictus sees him.)
(There is no longer any illusion about Ahriman. His form is much more inhuman; his right arm is bone, his right hand a claw, and he has a cloven hoof.)
Who art thou, who dost take a shadowed life,
From out my chaos, in the soul's domain?
Ahriman (aside):
He sees me, but as yet he knows me not.
And so he will not cause me fearful pain
If I should try to labour by his side.
(To Benedictus.)
I can declare to thee what Strader means
To tell thee further for thy personal good.
And also for thy pupils' mystic path.
Benedictus:
My mystic group will always know itself
To be in touch with Strader's soul, although
The life of sense no longer forms a bridge.
But when a spirit-messenger draws near
And manifests to us from his own worlds,
Then he must needs first win our confidence,
This he can only do if he appears
Without disguise unto our spirit-gaze.
Ahriman:
Dost thou not strive for knowledge of thyself!
So stranger spirit-beings, who might wish
To render thee a service, are compelled
To show themselves as parts of thine own self,
If they may only help thee undisguised!
Benedictus:
Whoe'er thou art, tis sure thou only canst
Serve Good when thou dost strive not for thyself,
When thou dost lose thyself in human thought
To rise newborn within the cosmic life.
Ahriman (aside):
It is now time for me to haste away
From this environment, for whensoe'er
His sight can think me as I really am,
He will commence to fashion in his thought
Part of the power which slowly killeth me.
(Ahriman disappears.)
Benedictus:
Now only do I see 'tis Ahriman,
Who flees himself, but fashions out of thought
A knowledge of his being in myself.
His aim is to confuse the thought of man
Because therein, misled by error old,
He seeks the source of all his sufferings.
As yet he knows not that the only way
For him to find release in future is
To find himself reflected in this thought.
And so he shows himself to men indeed,
But not as he doth feel he is in truth.
Himself revealing, and concealing too,
He sought to utilize in his own way
A favourable hour in Strader's case.
Through him he hoped to strike his friends as well;
But he will not be able to conceal
His nature from my mystic pupils now.
He shall be present in their waking thought
If he holds sway within their inner sight.
So shall they learn to know his many forms,
Which would disguise him whensoe'er he must
Reveal himself unto the souls of men.
But thou, sun-ripened soul of Strader, thou
Who by the strengthening of thy spirit-powers
Didst drive the Lord of Error into flight,
Thou shalt, as spirit-star, shine on thy friends.
Thy light shall henceforth ever penetrate
Into Maria's and Johannes' life;
Through thee will they be able to equip
Themselves more strongly for their spirit-work,
And with strong thought reveal the light of soul
E'en at such times as dusky Ahriman,
By clouding wisdom, seeks to spread the night
Of Chaos o'er full-awakened spirit-sight.
Curtain
Fünfzehntes Bild.
Dasselbe Zimmer wie im vorigen Bild. Es sitzt da wartend die Pflegerin des Doktor Strader. Nachdem der Vorhang aufgegangen ist, tritt der Sekretär in das Zimmer.
Sekretär:
Es wird wohl Benedictus bald erscheinen,
um eure Botschaft selbst Euch abzunehmen. ‒
Er war verreist, soeben kam er an.
Er war ein großer Mann, der Doktor Strader.
Ich hatte anfangs keinen rechten Glauben
an Gottgetreus gewalt’gen Arbeitsplan;
doch da ich oft zugegen war, wenn Strader
ihm zeigte, was dem Werke nötig ist,
Verlor mir jeder Einwand schnell an Kraft.
Stets geistvoll und mit stärkstem Sinn für alles,
was möglich und auch zielessicher ist.
Dabei bestrebt, das letzte Ziel doch stets
sich aus der Sache sinngemäß zu holen;
nichts schon gedankenhaft vorauszusetzen.
Der Mann verhielt sich ganz nach Mystenart.
Wie Menschen, welche eines Fernblicks Schönheit
von eines Berges Gipfel schauen wollen,
Die warten, bis sie oben angelangt,
und sich nicht vorher schon ein Bild ersinnen.
Die Pflegerin:
Ihr habt im Strom des Lebens einen Mann
von großen Gaben und von starkem Geiste
erkannt; ich habe in der kurzen Zeit,
in der ich ihm die letzten Erdendienste
erweisen durfte, seine hohe Seele
bewundern können. Diese liebe Seele,
die ausser sieben Jahren seltnen Glücks
stets einsam durch das Erdenleben ging.
Die Mysten boten ihm die Weisheit. Er
bedurft’ der Liebe ‒; seine Lust nach Taten,
sie war doch Liebe, ‒ die sich viele Formen
im Leben schafft, um sich zu offenbaren.
Was diese Seele mystisch suchte, war
dem edlen Feuer ihres Wesens nötig,
wie Schlafesruh’ dem Leib nach Schaffenszeiten.
Der Sekretär:
Ihm war die Mystenweisheit auch der Quell
des Schaffens; ‒ alles war bei ihm von ihr
im schönsten Sinne doch stets ganz erfüllt.
Die Pflegerin:
Weil er naturgemäß stets lieben mußte,
und mit der Seele allem sich vereinen,
was ihm zum Lebensinhalt werden wollte.
Sein letztes Denken galt dem Werke noch,
dem er in Liebe sich gewidmet hatte. ‒ ‒
Wie Menschen sich von Wesen trennen, die
sie lieben, so verließ die Seele Straders
das Erdenwerk, dem ihre Liebe galt.
Der Sekretär:
Er lebte doch im Geiste wesenhaft,
und Theodora stand wie lebend stets
vor ihm ‒; so fühlen wahre Mystenseelen.
Die Pflegerin:
Weil sie die Einsamkeit mit ihm verband.
Sie stand im Tode noch vor ihm. ‒ Von ihr
zu seines Werks Vollendung abberufen
nach Geisteswelten, so erschien er sich.
Für Benedictus schrieb er wenig Stunden,
bevor er starb, die Worte, die ich jetzt
dem Mystenführer überbringen will.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
So muß das Leben unsrer Erdenzeit
sich weiterführen, rätselvoll; ‒ erhellt
jedoch durch Sonnenmenschen seiner Art,
von welchen andre nach Planetenweise
das Licht empfangen, welches Leben weckt.
(Benedictus betritt das Zimmer; der Sekretär geht aus demselben.)
Die Pflegerin:
Es schrieb die wenig’ Zeilen Strader noch,
bevor die Kräfte ihm gering geworden.
Ich überbringe sie dem Mystenfreunde.
Benedictus:
Und als er diese Worte hingeschrieben,
wo weilte seine Seele noch zuletzt?
Die Pflegerin:
Erst lebte noch der letzte Lebensplan
in seinem Denken; dann war Theodora
im Geist mit ihm vereint; erfühlend dies,
entrang sich seine Seele sanft der Hülle.
Benedictus:
Hab’ Dank, du treues Wesen, für den Dienst,
den du ihm hast auf Erden noch geleistet.
(Die Pflegerin geht ab. Benedictus liest die letzten Worte Straders):
»Mein Freund, da ich zerschmettert fast mich sah,
erkennend, daß der Widerstand nicht nur
von außen meinem Schaffen sich erzeugt’,
daß innre Mängel sich im Grundgedanken
der Arbeit hemmend in den Weg gestellt,
da schaut’ ich wieder jenes Bild, von dem
ich Euch vor kurzem sprach.
Doch anders war
des Bildes Ende dann.
Nicht Ahriman
erstand als Kämpfer mir; ein Geistesbote
erschien an seiner Stelle, dess’ Gestalt6
sich als mein eignes irrtumvolles Denken
mir deutlich fühlbar gab.
Da mußt’ ich mich
erinnern jener Worte, die Ihr spracht
von Stärkung meiner Seelenkräftemacht.
Doch dann verschwand sogleich der Geistesbote. ‒«
Noch wenig Worte folgen, ‒ sie zu lesen
vermag ich nicht ‒ ein Chaos deckt sie mir,
Gedankenschleier wirksam webend, zu.
(Ahriman erscheint; Benedictus erblickt ihn):
Wer bist du, der du dich aus meinem Chaos
im Seelenkreise schattenhaft belebst?
Ahriman (für sich):
Er schaut mich wohl, doch kennt er mich jetzt nicht.
So bringt er mir noch nicht den Schreckensschmerz,
wenn ich an seiner Seite wirken will.
(Zu Benedictus):
Ich kann dir weiter künden, was dir Strader
vertrauen will zu deinem eignen Heil,
und auch für deiner Schüler Mystenweg.
Benedictus:
Verbunden wird sich stets mein Mystenkreis
der Seele Straders wissen, wenn auch ferner
das Sinnensein die Brücke nicht mehr bildet.
Doch will ein Geistesbote sich uns nahn,
der sich aus seinen Welten offenbart,
so muß er erst Vertrauen sich erwerben. ‒ ‒
Er kann es nur, wenn er sich voll erkennbar
in unsrer Geistesschau bezeugen will.
Ahriman:
Ihr strebt doch nur die Selbsterkenntnis an;
dann müsste fremdes Geistessein, das Euch
sich dienstbar will erweisen, eurem Selbst
als Teil sich erst ergeben, sollt’ es nur
erkennbar Euch zur Seite stehen dürfen.
Benedictus:
Wer du auch sei’st, dem Guten dienst du nur,
wenn du in dir nicht selber streben willst,
wenn du im Menschendenken dich verlierst,
und so im Weltenwerden neu erstehst.
Ahriman:
Es ist jetzt Zeit, daß ich aus seinem Kreise
mich schnellstens wende; denn sobald sein Schauen
mich auch in meiner Wahrheit denken kann,
erschafft sich mir in seinem Denken bald
ein Teil der Kraft, die langsam mich vernichtet.
(Ahriman verschwindet.)
Benedictus:
Jetzt erst erkenn’ ich Ahriman, der selbst
von hier entflieht, doch seines Wesens Kunde
gedankenhaft in meinem Selbst erschafft.
Er strebt das Menschendenken zu verwirren,
weil er in ihm die Quellen seiner Leiden
durch einen altvererbten Irrtum sucht.
Er weiß noch nicht, daß ihm Erlösung nur
in Zukunft werden kann, wenn er sein Wesen
im Spiegel dieses Denkens wiederfindet.
So zeigt er sich den Menschen wohl; doch nicht
wie er in Wahrheit wesenhaft sich fühlt.
Sich offenbarend, doch sich auch verbergend,
versuchte er des Augenblickes Gunst
bei Strader jetzt in seiner Art zu nutzen.
Er wollt’ in ihm auch dessen Freunde treffen;
doch wird er Schülern meines Mystenwerkes
sein Wesen künftig nicht verhüllen können. ‒
Sie sollen ihn in Wachsamkeit auch denken,
wenn er in ihrem Schauen walten wird. ‒ ‒
Sie sollen seine vielen Formen deuten,
die ihn verbergen wollen, wenn er sich
den Menschenseelen offenbaren muß.
Du aber, Straders sonnenreife Seele,8
die du durch Stärkung deiner Geisteskräfte
den Irrtumsboten zum Verschwinden zwangst,
du wirst als Geistesstern den Freunden leuchten,
du wirst Marias und Johannes’ Sein
mit deinem Licht in Zukunft stets durchdringen;
so werden sie durch dich noch stärker sich
zu ihrem Geisteswerke rüsten können,
und sich als Seelenlichtes Offenbarer
gedankenkräftig auch noch dann bezeugen,
wenn über vollerwachtes Geistesschauen
der finstre Ahriman, die Weisheit dämpfend,
des Chaos Dunkelheit verbreiten will.
(Vorhang fällt.)
Scene Fifteen
The same room as in the previous scene. Dr. Strader's nurse is sitting there waiting. After the curtain rises, the secretary enters the room.
Secretary:
Benedictus will probably appear soon,
to take your message himself. ‒
He was away on a trip and has just arrived.
Dr. Strader was a great man.
At first, I didn't really believe
in God's mighty plan of work;
but since I was often present when Strader
showed him what was necessary for the work,
all my objections quickly lost their power.
Always witty and with the strongest sense for everything
that is possible and also sure to succeed.
Always striving to achieve the ultimate goal
by drawing meaning from the matter at hand;
never assuming anything in advance.
The man behaved in a very mystical manner.
Like people who want to see the beauty of a distant view
from the top of a mountain,
they wait until they reach the top
and do not imagine a picture beforehand.
The nurse:
You have recognized in the stream of life a man
of great gifts and strong spirit;
in the short time
I was allowed to serve him in his final earthly days,
I was able to admire his noble soul.
This dear soul,
who, apart from seven years of rare happiness,
always walked lonely through earthly life.
The mystics offered him wisdom. He
needed love—his desire for action,
which was love after all, takes many forms
in life in order to reveal itself.
What this soul mystically sought was
necessary for the noble fire of its being,
like sleep is necessary for the body after times of creativity.
The secretary:
For him, the wisdom of the mystics was also the source
of creativity; everything about him was always completely filled with it
in the most beautiful sense.
The nurse:
Because by nature he always had to love,
and unite his soul with everything
that wanted to become his purpose in life.
His last thoughts were still devoted to the work
to which he had devoted himself with love. ‒ ‒
Just as people part from beings they love,
so Straders' soul left
the earthly work to which his love was devoted.
The secretary:
He lived on in spirit,
and Theodora stood before him as if alive—;
this is how true mystical souls feel.
The nurse:
Because she associated loneliness with him.
She stood before him even in death. ‒ Called away from him
to complete his work
in the spiritual worlds, so he appeared to himself.
He wrote for Benedictus for a few hours
before he died, the words that I now
want to convey to the mystic guide.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
Thus must the life of our earthly time
continue, enigmatic; ‒ illuminated
however, by sun people of his kind,
from whom others receive, planet by planet,
the light that awakens life.
(Benedictus enters the room; the secretary leaves.)
The nurse:
Strader wrote these few lines
before his strength failed him.
I bring them to the mystic friend.
Benedictus:
And when he wrote these words,
where did his soul dwell last?
The nurse:
First, the last plan of his life still lived
in his thoughts; then Theodora
was united with him in spirit; feeling this,
his soul gently slipped from its shell.
Benedictus:
Thank you, faithful being, for the service
you have rendered him on earth.
(The nurse exits. Benedictus reads Straders' last words):
"My friend, when I saw myself almost shattered,
realizing that the resistance was not only
generated from outside my work,
that inner deficiencies in the basic idea
of the work stood in the way, inhibiting it,
I saw again that image of which
I spoke to you recently.
But then the image ended differently.
It was not Ahriman
who rose up as my adversary; a spirit messenger
appeared in his place, whose form
was clearly recognizable to me as my own erroneous thinking.
Then I had to remember
the words you spoke
about strengthening the power of my soul.
But then the spirit messenger immediately disappeared. ‒
A few more words follow, ‒ I cannot read them
‒ chaos covers them for me,
weaving a veil of thought effectively over them.
(Ahriman appears; Benedictus sees him):
Who are you, who from my chaos
come to life as a shadow in the circle of souls?
Ahriman (to himself):
He sees me well, but he does not know me now.
So he does not yet bring me the pain of terror
when I want to work at his side.
(To Benedictus):
I can tell you more about what Strader
wants to confide to you for your own salvation,
and also for your disciples' mystical path.
Benedictus:
My mystical circle will always be connected
to the knowledge of Strader's soul, even if, in the future,
the bridge of sensory perception no longer exists.
But if a spirit messenger wants to approach us,
revealing himself from his worlds,
he must first earn our trust. ‒ ‒
He can only do so if he wants to testify fully recognizably
in our spiritual vision.
Ahriman:
You strive only for self-knowledge;
then a foreign spirit that wants to serve you
must first surrender to your self
as a part of it, if it is to
be allowed to stand recognizably by your side.
Benedictus:
Whoever you may be, you serve only the good,
if you do not want to strive within yourself,
if you lose yourself in human thinking,
and thus arise anew in the becoming of the world.
Ahriman:
It is now time for me to turn away from his circle
as quickly as possible; for as soon as his vision
can also conceive of me in my truth,
a part of the power that slowly destroys me
will soon be created for me in his thinking.
(Ahriman disappears.)
Benedictus:
Only now do I recognize Ahriman, who himself
flees from here, yet creates knowledge of his being
in my own mind.
He strives to confuse human thinking,
because he seeks in it the sources of his suffering
through an ancient inherited error.
He does not yet know that salvation can only come to him
in the future, when he finds his essence
reflected in this thinking.
Thus he reveals himself to humans, but not
as he truly feels himself to be.
Revealing himself, yet also concealing himself,
he tried to take advantage of the moment's favor
with Strader now in his own way.
He also wanted to meet his friends in him;
but he will not be able to conceal his nature
from the students of my mystical work
in the future. ‒
They should also think of him with vigilance,
when he will reign in their gaze. ‒ ‒
They should interpret his many forms,
which want to hide him when he
must reveal himself to human souls.
But you, Straders' sun-ripened soul,
who, by strengthening your spiritual powers,
forced the messenger of error to disappear,
you will shine as a spiritual star to your friends,
you will always penetrate Mary and John's being
with your light in the future;
thus, through you, they will be able
to prepare themselves even more strongly
for their spiritual work,
and bear witness as revelators of soul light
with powerful thoughts, even then,
when, above fully awakened spiritual vision,
the dark Ahriman, dampening wisdom,
wants to spread the darkness of chaos.
(Curtain falls.)