Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Guardian of the Threshold
Scene 9
A pleasant, sunny morning landscape, in a terraced garden overlooking a town with many factories.
Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Thomasius, and Strader are discovered walking up and down and engaged in leisurely conversation. Benedictus wears a white biretta and is in his white robe, but without the golden stole.
Capesius:
Here is the place, where Benedictus oft
In soft warm sunlight of a summer morn
Gave himself to his pupils that they might
In reverent mood receive his wisdom's words.
Out yonder lies what ever must divide
With pitiless intent the souls of men
From all the wondrous beauty of the earth,
That nature's God doth shower so bounteous here.
In yon waste sea of houses in the town
Doth Benedictus ever nobly strive
To heal this human woe by deeds of love.
And when with human words so wise and true
He tells his pupils of the spirit-world,
He seeks for hearts, which free creative power
That here reveals itself in wakening souls,
Hath filled with sunshine and with love for men.
I, too, may now behold the happiness
Which through his words doth reach the heart of man.
Since he in love hath underta'en the task
Of guiding me within the spirit-world:
And now when I may feel that he is near
I shall again discover mine own self.
Benedictus:
Within the circle of my pupils here
Through free-will acts of others and thyself
A knot shall one day loosen in the threads
Which Karma spins in lives of men on earth.
Thy life itself will help to loose this knot.
In hearts of men who give themselves in truth
To follow wisdom, which I serve myself,
Thou cant by thine own power discover those
Joined unto whom thou wilt complete the work
For which in spirit thou hast been prepared.
Capesius:
Thee have I known, and I will follow thee.
As I held converse with mine inmost soul,
When I had been allowed to hear thy words
Within the spirit-realm in their true form,
And thou hadst brought me to myself again,
Then could I see portrayed in spirit-light
The aims which in the progress of the earth
I was to follow in my future lives.
And now I know that thou didst choose for me
The one right way for this to be revealed.
Benedictus:
Thomasius and Strader will henceforth
United with thyself accomplish much
That best may serve to further human health.
They have prepared the soul-powers which are theirs
With such intent since first the Earth began
That they can join to form a trinity
With thine own spirit in the cosmic course.
Capesius:
So I must thank my fate's unbending powers
Which seemed at first incomprehensible,
That when the rightful moment came at last
My life's aim suddenly revealed itself.
(He pauses meditatively.)
How wonderfully hast thou led me on:
It seemed at first as if I strove in vain
To enter with my spirit consciously
Into those worlds which by thy words are placed
So thoughtfully before the souls of men.
For many years I could find nought but thoughts
When in thy writings I absorbed myself.
And then, quite suddenly, around me flowed
The spirit-world in its reality;
I scarce knew how to find myself aright
Within my former more accustomed world.
Benedictus:
That would have hid the spirit-life from thee
For ever by its strong effective power
Unless the stronger forces of this life
Had first reduced it to a shadow dim.
Thou therefore, must with fullest spirit-sight
Behold thyself upon the threshold grim
Where other men only begin to see.
(During the last words Strader walks up to Capesius and the three go away together: after a short time Benedictus returns with Strader.)
Strader:
It gave deep pain, within mine inmost self
And weighed with heavy pressure on my soul
When on awaking to myself I found
I was again within my body pent
From which thy words had given me release.
My deadened soul-life first tormented me
On my return, yet 'twas not only pain;
For it brought forth in me the memory
Of all I lived through ere I saw with dread
What I could learn from Ahriman himself,
That every thought must cease its progress there.
I had to ask myself why I was set
By Benedictus' word within this realm
Where souls alone are taken into count
And only those are valued which can help
Towards the objects, which that power desires
To make his own through deeds that I have done.
He, in his wisdom, wanted to select
Twelve helpers from the number of mankind.
Benedictus:
Yet 'tis well known to thee why all these souls,
Which Ahriman showed forth, drew near to thee,
When he would force himself upon their fates.
Strader:
That also bitter pain revealed to me:
It showed how in a former life on Earth
I was united to a brotherhood
Which now hath formed again its mystic league,
And how those people stood towards myself,
Who were in their true nature then revealed.
And I could feel quite sure that Ahriman
Will use the bond, which e'en in future lives
Must ever surely bind their souls to mine.
Benedictus:
The cosmic powers do so direct their deeds
That these with cosmic progress may unite
By following in wisdom number's laws.
The sign how this direction is fulfilled
Shows itself clearly to the outer sense,
If it doth watch the Sun upon the course
He takes throughout the constellations twelve.
It is his place amongst those very signs
Which shows how on the Earth things come to pass
In strict succession in long course of time.
So Ahriman desired to mould the souls
Of those who are united thus to thee
To powers from whence thy work might shine afar.
He also wished to follow number's laws
In binding their soul-nature unto thine.
Strader:
Since I have learned the sense of number's law,
So shall I too succeed in rescuing
My work from out the realm of Ahriman
And offering it to the gods of Earth.
Benedictus:
It was through Ahriman thou hadst to learn
The sense of number in the universe;
So was it needful for thine own soul's good.
'Twas spirit-pupilship that guided thee
Into that realm, which thou didst need to know
If thy creative power should bloom aright.
(Exeunt Benedictus and Strader. Maria and Thomasius appear from the other side.)
Maria:
Johannes, knowledge hath thy soul acquired
From truth's cold realms. No longer wilt thou now
Weave only in thy pictures that which souls,
Still pent within the body, live in dreams,
For far from cosmic progress are those thoughts
Which but as self-begotten show themselves.
Thomasius:
'Tis love of self—although they may pretend
'Tis thirst for knowledge maketh them do this.
Maria:
Whoe'er desires to dedicate himself
To human progress and perform such work
As shall in course of time prove living force
Must first entrust himself unto those powers
Who work in deep realities and bring,
Where order with confusion aye doth fight,
The rhythmic law of number and its power.
For knowledge only hath true active life,
That can reveal itself within the soul
When it can bring to men, still clothed in flesh,
The memory of life in spirit-realms.
Thomasius:
My course of life is thus made clear to me.
I have to feel myself a twofold man.
Through Benedictus' help and through thine own
I am a being independent, strong,
Whose forces do not yet belong to self—
To mine own self that stirs within me still.
Ye now have given me a manhood new
Who must be willing to give other men
What he hath gained by spirit-pupilship.
He must devote himself unto the world
As best he can: naught from mine other self
Must mingle and disturb what now at last
He hath as true self-knowledge recognized.
Contained in his own world he will go on,
If his own strength and help from both his friends
Shall in the future serve to form his fate.
Maria:
Whether thou walk'st in error or in truth
Thou canst keep ever clear the view ahead,
Which lets thy soul press farther on its path,
If thou dost bravely bear necessities
Imposed upon thee by the spirit-realm.
Neuntes Bild
Eine freundlich sonnige Morgenlandschaft, im Hintergrunde eine Stadt mit vielen Fabrikgebäuden. Es besprechen sich, in freier Art auf- und abgehend: Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Thomasius, Strader.
Capesius:
Hier ist der Ort, an welchem Benedictus
In mildem Morgensonnenlicht sich oft
Den Schülern widmet, die in Weihestimmung
Den Worten seiner Weisheit lauschen dürfen.
Da drüben liegt, was Seelen mitleidlos
Von allem herrlich Schönen trennen muß,
Das Gottnatur hier segensvoll gewährt.
Im öden Häusermeere dieser Stadt
Ist Benedictus gütig stets bemüht,
Durch Liebestaten Menschenleid zu lindern.
Doch wenn er seinen Schülern weisheitvoll
Die Geisteswelt im Menschenworte kündet,
Da will er Herzen finden, sonnenhaft
Erschlossen durch die freien Schöpfermächte,
Die hier sich seelenweckend offenbaren.
Auch mir wird jetzt das Glück sich zeigen dürfen,
Das seine Worte Menschen bringen können.
Er hat die Bürde liebend übernommen,
Mich geistig in die Geisteswelt zu führen.
So bin ich denn, wenn ich in seiner Nähe
Mich fühlen darf, mir wieder selbst gegeben.
Benedictus:
Es soll im Kreise meiner Schüler sich
Durch deine und der andern freie Tat
Ein Knoten künftig lösen aus den Fäden,
Die Karma spinnt im Menschen-Erdenwerden.
Was du erlebt, muß dieser Lösung dienen.
In Menschenherzen, welche treu ergeben
Der Weisung folgen, der ich selber diene,
Kann deine Kraft die Helfer alle finden,
Mit denen du vereint das Werk vollendest,
Zu welchem du im Geiste vorbereitet.
Capesius:
Ich habe Euch erkannt und will Euch folgen.
Als ich in meiner Seele Einkehr hielt,
Nachdem ich Eure Worte wesenhaft
In Geisteswelten habe hören können
Und Ihr mich wieder zu mir selbst gebracht:
Da durfte ich im Geisteslichte schauen
Die Ziele, welchen meine spätern Leben
Im Lauf des Erdendaseins dienen sollen.
Und wissen kann ich jetzt, daß Ihr erwählt,
Die rechten Wege mir zu offenbaren.
Benedictus:
Thomasius und Strader, sie vermögen,
Vereint mit dir, in Zukunft viel zu schaffen,
Was Menschenheil im rechten Sinne fördert.
Die Seelenkräfte, welche sie besitzen,
Sie haben seit dem Erdenurbeginn
In solcher Art sich wirksam vorbereitet,
Daß sie im Weltenlauf mit deinem Geiste
Sich kraftvoll jetzt zur Dreiheit schliessen können.
Capesius:
So hab ich denn den strengen Schicksalsmächten,
Die mir erst unverständlich bleiben mußten,
Zu danken, daß im rechten Augenblicke
Mir meine Lebensziele sich erschliessen durften.
Er macht eine Pause, sich besinnend:
Wie wunderbar habt Ihr mich doch geführt;
Erst schien es mir, als strebte ich vergebens,
Mit meinem Geiste wirklich einzutreten
In jene Welten, welche eure Worte
Gedankenmässig vor die Seele stellen.
Ich konnte lange nur Gedanken finden,
Wenn ich in eure Schriften mich vertiefte.
Und dann, wie plötzlich, hatte ich um mich
Die Geisteswelt in ihrer Wesenheit;
Ich wußte kaum, mich noch zurecht zu finden
In meiner frühern, mir gewohnten Welt.
Benedictus:
Sie hätte dir nur stets das Geistesleben
Durch ihre starke Wirkungskraft verborgen,
Wenn dieses nicht durch stärkres Wesen sie
Zum leichten Schattensein herabgedämpft.
Du wirst deshalb mit voller Geistesschau
An jener Schwelle dich erkennen müssen,
Die andern erst das Seelenauge öffnet.
Es kommt Strader bei den letzten Worten des Capesius hinzu, die drei gehen hinweg, und nach kurzer Zeit kommt Benedictus mit Strader wieder zurück.
Strader:
Es war ein tiefer Schmerz, im Innern mir
Sich wie zum schweren Seelendrucke bildend,
Was ich empfand, als ich zu mir erwachte
Und wieder in dem Leibe mich erkannte,
Aus welchem eure Worte mich geführt.
Vom dumpfen Seelenleben blieb die Qual
Mir erst zurück, doch war sie nicht nur Leid;
Denn sie gebar Erinnrung mir an alles,
Was ich erlebt, bevor ich furchtbar sah,
Wie ich vor Ahriman erfahren konnte,
Daß alles Denken dort zum Stillstand kommt.
Und fragen mußt ich mich, warum versetzte
Mich Benedictus’ Wort in dieses Reich,
Wo mit den Seelen nur gerechnet wird
Und jede nur gewertet, wie sie sich
Den Zielen fügen soll, welche jene Macht
Aus meiner Leistung sich gestalten will.
Sie wollte aus der Menschen Zahl sich zwölf
Zu ihrem Werke weisheitvoll erwählen.
Benedictus:
Bekannt ist dir doch wohl, warum die Seelen,
Die Ahriman dir zeigte, sich dir nahten,
Als er in ihr Geschick sich drängen wollte.
Strader:
Auch dieses offenbarte mir der Schmerz.
Er zeigte mir, was mich der Brüderschaft,
Die jetzt sich in dem Mystenbund gefunden,
Im langvergangnen Erdensein verband,
Und wie die Menschen sich zu mir gestellt,
Die sich in ihrem Wesen offenbarten.
Und fühlen konnte ich, daß Ahriman
Das Band benutzen will, das sie an mich
Für weitre Leben sicher binden muß.
Benedictus:
Die Weltenmächte lenken ihre Taten,
Daß sie, nach Mass und Zahl gerecht, sich stets
Dem Weltenwerden weisheitvoll vereinen.
Das Zeichen, wie die Ordnung sich vollzieht,
Es weist den äußern Sinnen sich mit Klarheit,
Wenn sie der Sonne folgen in dem Lauf,
Den sie durch zwölf Gestirngestalten nimmt.
Wie sie zu diesen Formen sich verhält,
Das zeigt, wie auf der Erde sich die Dinge
In langer Zeiten Folgelauf ereignen.
So wollte Ahriman die Menschenseelen,
Die dir verbunden, zu den Kräften formen,
Aus welchen deine Arbeit leuchten kann.
Er wollte nach dem Masse und der Zahl
An ihre Seelenart die deine binden.
Strader:
Da ich den Sinn von Zahl und Mass erkannt,
So wird mir auch gelingen, meine Leistung
Aus Ahrimans Bereich herauszuführen
Und Erdengöttern wirksam darzubringen.
Benedictus:
Du hast der Zahlen Sinn im Weltenall
Durch Ahrimans Gewalt erkennen müssen;
So war es deiner Seelenrichtung nötig.
Die Geistesschülerschaft, sie führte dich
In dieses Reich, das du erkennen mußtest,
Soll deine Schaffenskraft dir recht erblühn.
Die beiden gehen hinweg;
es kommen von der andern Seite Maria und Thomasius.
Maria:
Johannes, deine Seele hat Erkenntnis
Aus kalten Wahrheitsreichen sich errungen.
Und weben wirst du weiter bildhaft nicht,
Was Seelen nur im Leibe traumhaft leben.
Denn fern vom Weltenwerden sind Gedanken,
Die aus sich selber nur sich zeugen wollen.
Thomasius:
Und daß sie’s tun, geschieht aus Eigenliebe,
Die sich als Wissensdurst gebärden will.
Maria:
Wer sich dem Menschenwerden wirksam widmen
Und Werke leisten will, die wesenhaft
Als Kräfte sich im Zeitverlauf verhalten,
Der muß den Mächten sich erst anvertrauen,
Die tief in Wirklichkeiten Mass und Zahl
In Ordnung und in Wirrnis kämpfend bringen.
In Wahrheit ist Erkenntnis Leben nur,
Das in den Seelen offenbar kann werden,
Wenn sie Erlebtes aus den Geistbereichen
In Erdenleibern zur Erinnerung bringen.
Thomasius:
So ist mein Lebenslauf mir vorgezeichnet.
Als Zweiheit muß ich fühlen, was ich bin.
Durch Benedictus und durch deine Hilfe
Bin ich ein Wesen, das für sich besteht,
Und dessen Kräfte meinem eignen Menschen,
Der noch in mir sich regt, nicht angehören.
Was ihr mir gabet, ist ein Mensch für sich,
Der andern Menschen willig reichen muß,
Was ihm gewährt durch Geistesschülerschaft.
Er soll der Welt sich widmen, wie er kann;
Doch darf in diesem Menschen nichts vom andern
Sich störend mischen, der am Anfang erst
Der wahren Selbsterkenntnis sich erahnt.
Der wird als Welt für sich sich weiter führen,
Wenn ihm die eigne Kraft und eure Hilfe
In Zukunft schicksalformend sich erzeugen.
Maria:
Ob du in Wahrheit oder Irrtum wandelst,
Du kannst die Aussicht dir stets offen halten,
Die deine Seele weiter dringen lässt,
Wenn du Notwendigkeiten mutig trägst,
Die aus des Geistesreiches Wesen stammen.
Vorhang fällt.
Scene Nine
A pleasant, sunny morning landscape, with a city full of factory buildings in the background. Benedictus, Capesius, Maria, Thomasius, and Strader are talking freely, pacing back and forth.
Capesius:
This is the place where Benedictus
In the mild morning sunlight often
Devotes himself to his students, who in a solemn mood
Are allowed to listen to the words of his wisdom.
Over there lies what mercilessly separates souls
From all that is beautiful and wonderful,
Which God's nature here blessedly grants.
In the dreary sea of houses that is this city,
Benedictus is always kindly striving
To alleviate human suffering through acts of love.
But when he wisely proclaims
The spiritual world in human words to his students,
He wants to find hearts, sun-like,
Opened by the free creative powers,
Which reveal themselves here, awakening the soul.
Now I, too, will be allowed to experience the happiness
That his words can bring to people.
He has lovingly taken on the burden
Of guiding me spiritually into the spiritual world.
So when I am near him
I am allowed to feel myself, I am given back to myself.
Benedictus:
Within the circle of my disciples,
Through your free action and that of others,
A knot shall be untied in the future from the threads
That karma spins in human becoming.
What you have experienced must serve this solution.
In human hearts that faithfully follow
The guidance I myself serve,
Your power can find all the helpers
With whom you will complete the work
For which you are prepared in spirit.
Capesius:
I have recognized you and want to follow you.
When I paused to reflect in my soul,
After I was able to hear your words
In the spiritual worlds
And you brought me back to myself:
Then I was allowed to see in the light of the spirit
The goals which my later lives
Are to serve in the course of earthly existence.
And now I know that you have chosen
To reveal the right paths to me.
Benedictus:
Thomasius and Strader, they are capable,
United with you, of accomplishing much in the future,
Which promotes human salvation in the true sense.
The soul powers they possess,
have been effectively prepared since the beginning of time
in such a way
that they can now powerfully unite with your spirit
in the course of the world to form a trinity.
Capesius:
So I thank the harsh powers of fate,
which at first had to remain incomprehensible to me,
that at the right moment
my life goals were revealed to me.
He pauses, reflecting:
How wonderfully you have guided me;
At first it seemed to me that I was striving in vain
To truly enter with my spirit
Into those worlds which your words
Place before the soul in thought.
For a long time, I could only find thoughts
When I immersed myself in your writings.
And then, suddenly, I had around me
The spirit world in its essence;
I hardly knew how to find my way
In my former world, which I was accustomed to.
Benedictus:
It would have hidden the spiritual life from you
Through its powerful influence,
If it had not been dampened by a stronger being
To a slight shadow.
You will therefore have to recognize yourself with full spiritual insight
At that threshold,
Which only opens the eye of the soul to others.
Strader joins Capesius as he utters his last words, the three walk away, and after a short time Benedictus returns with Strader.
Strader:
It was a deep pain within me,
forming like a heavy pressure on my soul,
what I felt when I awoke to myself
and recognized myself again in the body
from which your words had led me.
The torment of the dull life of the soul
But it was not only suffering;
For it gave me memories of everything
I had experienced before I saw, to my horror,
How I could learn from Ahriman
That all thought comes to a standstill there.
And I had to ask myself why
Benedictus' words had transported me to this realm,
Where souls are only counted
And each is only valued according to how it
Should conform to the goals that power
Wants to shape from my performance.
It wanted to choose twelve from among the people
To work wisely for its cause.
Benedictus:
You surely know why the souls
Ahriman showed you approached you
When he wanted to force himself into their destiny.
Strader:
The pain revealed this to me as well.
He showed me what bound me to the brotherhood
Now found in the Mystic Brotherhood,
In a long-past earthly existence,
And how the people who revealed themselves in their essence
Stood by me.
And I could feel that Ahriman
Wants to use the bond that must bind them to me
For further lives.
Benedictus:
The world powers guide their deeds,
So that, according to measure and number, they always
Wisely unite in the becoming of the world.
The sign of how order is accomplished
Is clearly visible to the outer senses
When they follow the sun in its course,
Which it takes through twelve celestial forms.
How it relates to these forms
Shows how things on earth
Happen in a long sequence of events.
So Ahriman wanted to shape the souls of men,
Which are connected to you, into forces
From which your work can shine.
He wanted to bind them to your soul
He wanted, according to measure and number,
To bind your soul to theirs.
Strader:
Since I have recognized the meaning of number and measure,
I will also succeed in leading my achievement
Out of Ahriman's realm
And effectively presenting it to the Earth gods.
Benedictus:
You had to recognize the meaning of numbers in the universe
Through Ahriman's power;
This was necessary for the direction of your soul.
The spiritual discipleship led you
Into this realm, which you had to recognize,
So that your creative power might truly blossom.
The two depart;
Mary and Thomasius enter from the other side.
Maria:
John, your soul has gained knowledge
From cold realms of truth.
And you will no longer weave pictorially,
What souls only live in dreams within the body.
For thoughts are far from becoming worldly,
That only want to beget themselves.
Thomasius:
And that they do so is out of self-love,
Which wants to behave as a thirst for knowledge.
Maria:
Those who wish to devote themselves effectively to becoming human
And accomplish works that essentially
Behave as forces over time,
Must first entrust themselves to the powers
That bring order and confusion deep into realities of measure and number,
Fighting to bring them into being.
In truth, knowledge is only life
Which can become manifest in souls,
When they bring experiences from the spiritual realms
Into earthly bodies as memories.
Thomasius:
Thus my life course is predetermined for me.
As a duality, I must feel what I am.
Through Benedictus and through your help
I am a being that exists for itself,
And whose powers do not belong to my own human being,
Who still stirs within me.
What you gave me is a human being in his own right,
Who must willingly give to other human beings
What is granted to him through spiritual discipleship.
He should devote himself to the world as he can;
But nothing of the other may disturb this human being,
Who at first only senses true self-knowledge.
He will continue to lead himself as a world unto himself,
When his own power and your help
Shape his destiny in the future.
Maria:
Whether you walk in truth or error,
You can always keep your prospects open,
Allowing your soul to penetrate further,
If you courageously bear the necessities
That originate from the essence of the spiritual realm.
Curtain falls.