At one point, Sisyphus stays at the top of the mountain and lets the stone roll down without chasing after it.
1
Cinema – I was recently sitting in an older movie theatre where well-known classic films are shown. I was watching a thriller and the action was intense, the plot complex, the scenes short, the music grating on my nerves when suddenly the screen went blank, painfully white at first. The theatre was no longer dark. The spectators sounded somewhat disappointed, but also relieved. I could feel my sweaty hands. Slowly the lights came back on. Once again I asked myself why I had to watch this movie. The projectionist could be heard off-screen regretting the film break. Obviously it was an old movie from before the digital film age.
2
The screen remained blank and the projectionist who could be heard from off-screen explained that the film interruption resulted from a technical defect in the projector. It was unable to be repaired that evening and the money was to be refunded at the ticket office or with a voucher for two movies by the same cinematic grandmaster.
It was late mild summer and I was glad to be outside. My friend grumbled a bit about the spoiled evening but I was really glad to feel the pleasantly warm air in my lungs. In the rising wind one could hear the rustling of the leaves in the surrounding trees.
3
The film is nothing but splashes of color on cellophane that cast shadows on a blank screen making us believe in images, actions and, depending on their nature, shattering our nerves or trying to lull us into some kind of illusion.
Aren’t the majority of our thoughts also such dark blobs illuminated by a light whose source we don’t know but cast shadows into our souls?
4
Actually, the whole complicated world seems to be a theater, or rather cinema, where films which pretend to be new are constantly shown. On closer inspection they are just repetitions of old plots in a more recent guise with which somebody wants to arouse interest or beguile spectators, for instance in the sense of hypnosis.
5
The world is a kaleidoscope of 10,000 things, of incredible conflicts, and manipulation of humanity. Corruption, lies, violence, injustice as far as the eye can see. But in the hearts and depths, there is something else that gives an inkling of peace and joy, which is beyond 10,000 things.
6
The herd -Recently in the mountain pastures of my homeland I had the pleasure of observing a herd of sheep patiently feeding on whatever grass the meadows had to offer. I heard their little bells as a brighter, darker, beautiful concert, soothing my ears and also those of the herd, which felt protected by the familiar sound next to their fat bellies full of grass.
Aren’t we humans also constantly calmed by a myriad of images, bells, sounds, melodies, more subtle and coarser? Oh yes, there’s the cinema again … However, one can learn from the consequences of our inattention in the daily course of things.
7
One who really strives for truth, wisdom, enlightenment, happiness and peace must first start by tidying up one’s own house. It is obvious that our “house“ can be nothing other than our own being. The motive for tidying up, for seeking clarity, is usually disappointment. Those who are not disappointed are satisfied. Those who are satisfied have a momentary peace within themselves and those who have peace within themselves and are even happy, see no reason to look for any alternative. Being disappointed is a very healing experience. It comes at some point. One may be familiar with the old but not too famous theorem: from disillusion to disillusion to the end of illusion. Only those who are disappointed in the pursuit of their goals, work, religion, hobbies, church, relationships, in a word: disillusioned with their idols, and who suffer this pain of meaninglessness can be interested in seeking an alternative. Alter natus, literally: born again.
8
One lives in a very complicated world that makes tough demands, especially psychologically. Time is racing by and one is dragged along by the wheel of time, like in a death dance as depicted in old paintings. And then there is exhaustion, like being knocked out. The impartial referee stands by and counts. And if lucky, the game is over for now. In today’s vernacular this is known as burnout, which means: The old fires can no longer burn. One is simply burnt out, out of the picture, and can no longer keep up with the endless marathon of life.
Disappointment, the next state, is really powerful. Now there are a few possibilities. Perhaps the most useless one is to pick oneself up in a few weeks or months and then be thrown back into the battle of trivialities. We don’t need to say what will follow, what must follow. Anyone with just a little imagination can spin the story further.
9
One can also use the whole experience however, as an opportunity, as an unexpected gift: If we do not yet have to be completely disposed of by life, that is, if we have learned from the crisis and begin to reflect, there is a chance for change, for an awakening of the core hidden within us. This mystery, which is generally incomprehensible to humans, has been waiting for many ages to turn our attention to it. And now we come across pictures or old or new texts that touch our hearts. We meet people more or less by chance who are also interested in a spiritual path. This interest in the hidden sides of life is one of the most important preludes to emerging from the labyrinth of the world to the only necessary thing – the path of light, via lucis.
10
To the extent that we are prepared to follow an inner, silent presentiment, the language of our intuition, the path to unity emerges. It is a path of fire and joy and also a path of pain. Of course, the nature of the new orientation cannot be avoided, whereby we become acutely aware of the chains of the labyrinth. However, we also begin to understand the language of these pains in the light of reason. They are necessary steps of purification as the soul begins to understand more clearly how continuous attention to daily questions and challenges is required.
11
And once again thoughts are drawn to Sisyphus, the man trying to hold up the rolling stone. One is seen treading over and over again in the dark on the same old track; on ashes, like in the old days, panting, collapsing, getting up, running on as if it were a matter of bare survival. And then some dream images, shreds of an old hunch come by and it is suddenly clear what one has to do. The man with the stone stays where he is at the top of the mountain and lets the stone roll down. He stops running after it. The stone rolls and rolls and rolls down the mountain and at some point makes a loud noise and breaks.
Sisyphus continues to stand at the top of the mountain, full of happiness, joy, and deep understanding, seeing and feeling the fire of his own heart. The old dross, the pain of a decaying, chaotic world, burns and burns in the blast furnace, in the Athanor of his being. He experiences the death of a being who has been enslaved for millennia. The essential, the enduring, the golden eternal values, the robe of the phoenix, the fiery bird of mysteries, rises with a liberating laugh into the azure skies of the infinite, connected with all and connected with light and nature. A man who, like so many others, has rolled countless stones for countless ages. Now he wakes up without a stone in a flaming robe and hears the words A man has truly resurrected. From now on, know that you are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth. As he looks around, he is greeted and embraced by many whom he somehow suspected he had known for a long time but who had been forgotten in the darkness of the old, lonely, now bygone world. He hears a voice from the light speaking to him: A seed has been sown in the heart of the world, it is your heart, the heart of the universe.
12
So all this confusing complexity is the necessary path to simplicity. The glowing spark of the Spirit awakens the truth, the soul and a clear mind. The sensible act in benevolence and joy is its signature. Through the power of the Phoenix and the Spirit within us, everything that is complicated is transformed, elevated and becomes the art of simplicity.
10,000 things have melted down. Gold has been made in the retorts …
Literature:
J.A. Comenius:
Via Lucis
Das einzig Notwendige
The Labyrinth of the World and The Paradise of the Heart.
R.W.Trine:
