THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 181 -
Hiram's stoic, naturalistic world view.
At this Aziona says, "Truly, no, that I do not understand at all! How should I understand it then?"
2
John says, "Since you are a Jew, you will have heard at least once of the Psalms of David, of the Song of Songs of Solomon and of the songs of lamentations of Jeremiah?"
3
Aziona says, "Oh, yes, certainly, although I have heard little of them and understood even less!"
4
John says, "You see, that is spiritual music and spiritual song, because it was given to the mentioned singers by the spirit of God! Now, do you understand these things better already?"
5
Aziona says, "Well yes, it obviously is becoming a little less foggy; but I do not need to begin to praise any clear insight by a long shot! "How do you Hiram, understand these things then?"
6
Says Hiram: "Just like you! There is indeed a type of spiritual breeze blowing here; but if this dear and wonderful friend should begin to sing to us the Song of Songs of Solomon, then I would go. For you can chase me like a chamois over all the mountain tops with that song; it is a true quintessence of human foolishness as the pharmacists would say, apart from the fact that Solomon is supposed to basically have been one of the wisest Jewish kings.
7
I do not really want to say anything about the Psalms of David or about the Lamentations of Jeremiah; for there are supposed to be many very good and eminent things in them and all sorts of pretty dark kept prophesies about a Messiah of the Jews who is supposed to come one day, somehow in the style of the Greek Iliad. But that is all very beautiful poetry, behind which however not even my present-day, beautiful dream of light, which came into fulfillment here, is hidden! The poor mortal people comfort themselves as well as they can, always with sheer good things; but where is the effective reality there? It remains eternally by the wayside, and every person with all his most beautiful hopes cannot finally find the fulfillment in the cool earth down below! That is and remains the eternal and equal truth, everything else is scattered into old void nothingness!
8
It is true, Aziona said to me previously some very remarkable things, behind which indeed some secret truth is hidden, unknown to us; but since Moses, Socrates and Plato the dear Earth has already borne some extremely wise men, whom one could very well have considered to be gods. They were certainly there, and all the powers of nature listened to their signs! On their own, they nonetheless became older and weaker and more fragile, and at the end of their days it was nonetheless shown that they were also only mortal and temporal people, and they passed over into the very same nothingness like those human trivialities just like us, to whom it never occurred to want to be something in the world. Therefore everything is in vain in this world full of death!
9
Indeed one talks generally about some kingdom of souls somewhere on the other side; on its own, where is this, who has ever seen a soul and who has ever seen its future habitation? Yes, there are poems and sagas everywhere in large numbers! There are many of us here, that is, for this completely deserted place of the Earth; but among us there is not one who could say with certainty that he himself had ever seen a soul or only felt it very vividly! But whatever everyone, who as a person should indeed also have a right to it, does not recognize in his life, but instead only the various priesthoods and others of their very similar individuals, well, that is hopefully not too difficult for a truly somewhat unlimited clear-thinking person to guess for what reason and basis and to whose advantage such sagas, poetry and even religion were created! It is well for those to whom such airy word pictures could give any sort of comfort and calm! We, dear friends, have clearly recognized and understood something better, namely the ancient ever-same truth in its deepest depths, and find our greatest comfort in it, to one day return to the eternally ancient nothingness; for in nothingness there is obviously the greatest and very most blessed rest.
10
That we now are here, live, think and feel, is already such a unique incomprehensible game of nature. The winds play with the waves on the sea, and these bluster, sough und boom as if they wanted to instantly consume the whole Earth along with its mountains; on their own, the winds soon die down, and all the power of the waves, however wild, goes away. Clouds also build up, quite terribly heavy with storms. One should believe that this will bring the end to the Earth; but only too soon the storm blows itself out and after it follows the old calm. And so the great games of nature change. Everything passes away and comes again, only the great nature remains always the same. Sun, moon, stars and this Earth are always the same, and the events and their games also.
11
You see, dear and very respectable friends, you may do whatever you want and can and likewise speak, write and teach all sorts of wise things, it is all in vain! Only what I have said in my surely chaste and most unselfish poverty, is and remains true. For daily experience teaches this to the people, and this as the most ancient teacher of all creation recognizes no exceptions at all, since all creation is as unique as these two eyes are my own as long as I live. All other wise men and prophets had created their wisdom and their knowledge from their ancestors and wanted to contradict the old experience; but that is all purely in vain and good for nothing! Down below they have long since been undone, and nothing has remained of them but their vainly wise teaching and some of their great deeds. Only weak spirits who hang on tightly to this life of nothingness can find some pleasure, yes, at the same time even an empty comfort from such confusion of the brain.
12
That now is my opinion in life. If perhaps you have a better one, then let it out, and I would gladly see whether you are capable of saying something more true! Yet I know already in advance that you all cannot come to me with anything more true or appropriate, because there is not and cannot be anywhere anything of the sort."
13
Peter says secretly to Me, "Lord, look, he speaks a little like a Hebrew! Truly, if I had not already had such extraordinary experiences with You, he would be the first who could make me quite weak!"
14
I say, "Oh, just wait, that is not yet the core by any means; even more will come! That is why I told you all in advance that you have to gather yourselves very much in order to bring these people to another conviction and, which is the main issue, to love for life. John, just continue!"
15
At this John says under his breath, "Lord, put the words in my mouth; for before You have allowed me to speak alone for some moments, and I was immediately "who knows where! Indeed I did not say anything unsuitable, but in short I noticed that I did not remain on track!"
16
I said, "My dear John, do not worry about that! Everything that you said was quite in the best order, for everything had to come exactly thus. Therefore just continue very courageously and we will have another of the most beautiful victories to rejoice in!"
17
That encouraged John and he immediately began to speak again, and indeed with even more spirit and courage than before.