The sun., 1903-12-27

with the Buddhistic doctrine. Withdrawal
from the world and safety by absorption
into the universal unconscousness were
the Buddhist's hope Of peace. But neither
Guatama nor Schopenhauer had any definite
positive reason for this. Here the monk,
who was looking out for the salvation OF
his own precious soul and letting other
peoples souls take care Of themselves
came nearer to the ideals of Wagner as
set forth in -Parsifal
No, Schopenhauer did not teach Wagner
the doctrine OF enlightenment by pity for
with Schopenhauer pity was not enlight-
eminent, but the beginning OF a personal
abstraction. A man was sorry for others
because they were in the world, the very
worst place man could inhablt. HIS
sensuous nature made him like the things
he found here (such as flower maidens, for
example, and his duty was to mortify the
flesh, get rid of all his mortal appetites.
live in asceticism and die as soon as possible.
Wagner was fond Of grating his own ideas
on the philosophical systems OF bigger
men than himself. So he invented this doc
trine Of enlightenment. How he worked out
his psychologist plan we shall see presently
No doubt Wagner had his eye on Bud
dhism when he wrote "Parsifal.' 1t is
history that he once contemplated Bud
dhistic drama, called THE Victors, in which
he was to preach the doctrine of fleshly
renun citation and salvation through the
modification of desire. But he abandoned
the scheme. The story was Eastern, and
he did some delving in Oriental literature.
How the -Four Sublime Verities" Of
Gautama, the founder of the religion, must
have appealed to him! These were, first,
that pain exists; second, that the cause of
pain is desire or attachment third, that
pain can be ended by Nirvana, and fourth,
how to attain Nirvana.
The way to Nirvana is hard, much harder
than the path to the Christian Heaven,
for the man must tread it without aid.
There is no vicarious sacrifice in the religion
of Siddartha. You must tread the wne-
press alone, and drink Of the dregs OF life.
All the best of the Ten Commandments are
found in the precepts of this religion.
Added to them are minor commands look
ing to complete abstraction,
For example a Bhikshu (an order Of
monk) is forbidden to look at or converse
with a woman lest emotion should disturb
the serene indifference of his soul. He
must not even save his mother if she is
drowning, except with long stick reached
toward her.
ITO sit in solemn silence in dull, dark
dock, seems to have been the chief business
of the founder. Thus is he always repre-
sented cross-legged and contemplative,
with eyes downcast, @cleaving with the
thunderbolt of science the mountain Of
ignorance" and perceiving the illusory
nature OF all things. So he comes at last
to that state in which he breaks the bonds
binding him to existence and enters into
the complete Nrvana.
In this religion pity is preeminent, for it
is sympathy with suffering. But 1t does
not confine itself to human beings. Animals
are also to share our sympathies, and here
we meet with the foundation of Wagner's
idea in "Parsifal" OF the sacredness of the
life of dumb creatures in the realms Of the
Holy Grail But now let us see how Wagner
works out his jumble Of religious and philo-
sophie doctrines.
Pdrsital is a pure fool. Weigh that.
first of all. He knows nothing; yet when
he enters the flower garden he compliments
the women on their beauty and fails to
understand what they want Of him. O
wise young Judge! This pure fool, who
does not know what is the matter with
Amfortds. and therefore has no desire to
aid him, must be enlightened by pity. SO
Wagner sets Kundry to work to tell him the
story of his mothers sufferings, and she
ends the narration by printing long kiss
upon his lips. Wagner was fond OF long
kisses set to music, and he used one in
"Siegfried" as an awakener.
Now, what happens? This kiss, the kiss
of an impure woman seeking to dehle an
innocent boy, does not arouse passion in
the youth, but instils into his heart pity
for Amiortas Think of it 1t is so i'm
possible psychologically that it is simply
comic. Yet it is the emotional climax
Of this drama of ~Parsifal,' and on it the
entire action of the play rests.
What hold, then the Buddhistic ideas,
toward which Wagner was led by Schopen-
hauer, had taken upon him! The religion
of the crucial scene of the drama is not
Christian at all. The outward and visible
signs of the scene are purely pagan, but
the underlying philosophy il Buddhistic.
1t is the final issue of the dreams which this
master visionary had in his mind when he
planned "The Victors." The only remnant
of Christian story in this act is the remi-
nlScenCe OF the drama Wnlcn wagner once
planned rela ting to the Saviour.
In his Jesus Of Nazareth he intended
to show Mary of Magdala in love with the
Divine One. Wagner was no fool. Nor
was he q madman, as Nordau has tried to
show. But he was first last and all the time
a theatrical thinker His imagination dwelt
in the show house, and all was grist that
came to his mill. If he had thought the
meditations of the Creator good material
for music drama he would have laid
his artistic hands upon the eternal throne
itself
Thus he shrank not from grating spec
tacular show, Schopenhaueran ethics and
Buddhistic dogmas on the legend Of the
Holy Grail. AS a matter of absolute fact,
the Christian elements in this drama are
almost wholly spectacular and in the nature
of accessories. If ministers of the Gospel
desire to be shocked by "Parsifal"-and
they have reason to be, If they look for it
in the right place-let them consider the
place which the Holy Grail and the cere-
mony Of the communion occupy in this
play.
They are merely stage devices to heighten
the picture of the suffering of Amfortds
and to impress upon our minds the vital
need Of the enlightenment of the pure
fool. The professional of the Grail is
spectacle pure and simple The eating of