Nexus - 0303 - New Times Magazine-pages

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!W '" Throughout recorded history, ltumanity has been periodically uplifted by the con­ tributions of a few gifted and enlightened individuals whose teachings and phi­ losophy have gradually raised the level of human awareness-the Buddha, Jesus Christ and the Prophet Mohammed being the most famili'ar ex.;amples of how a single individual can produ.ce far-reaching changes in the consciousness of humanity. Lesser mortals have also played a vital role in this proces.s, and the seeding of human con­ sciousness with higher truths always seems to come at a time when humankind as a whole is ready to receive them. It is s.ometlmes said .that these great teachers, themselves ardent students of Nature and the Divine, lived ahead of their time. At first view this wouldl appear to be true, but on turther reflection it beco.mes ap,parent than they Jived precisely when they sltould have, for otherwise they could not have provided the vision or the direction necessary for humani­ ty's opward evolution and progress. In most instances a signpost is long forgotten and unheeded if it lies behind, and to be of any use it must of necessity stand out ahead in order to indicate the new way. Many such human signposts have punctuatedl the passage of humanity's progress, but have received recognition [or th.eir great contribution only long after their own passing. These exceptional ,individuals are indeed visionaries in the ilruest sense of the word, for they are endowed with a far higher sense of perception than their contemporaries. For their work, an enormous dedication and courage is necessary. Historically-and Viktor Schaubcrger was no ex_ception-the lives such individuals have led have been dogged with confrontation, difficulty, doubt and the great loneliness of the pathfinder, or the mdi­ vidual who stands alone far out in front on evolution's upward way. As pioneers, apart from breaking new ground they also suffer great adversity in their encounters with the powerful opposition oJ those whose interests and beliefs are rigidly immured in the cur­ rent status quo. Such great leading lights 'come to mind as Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei who devoted their whole lives to the understanding of the universe and the raising of human consciousness. In tile main Ithey were only permitted a view into their Promised Land, a vista over the unfolding of their l/ife's work, but almost without exception had to forgo the passage into the new and the reaping of the fruits of their travails. Denicd any recogoition for their contribution, their end was often clothed in misery and pcnury, as thQugh the god.s woul.d exact from them the very last ounce of personal surrender. Many oHhese enlightened individuals died alone, unloved, unwanted and unsung. Kepler was reduced to total insolvency and, although he was owed a considerable sum for his services by the Duke of Regensburg, he died a pauper and was buried in a common grave outside hallowed ground, for he, like his contemporary Galileo, had dared to ques­ tIOn the authority of the Church. TO' this day, no one knows where Kepler's body lies. He, too, had had a vision, and, through his meticulo.us study of the movement of the planets, produced ~is g'reat work, Harmonices Mundi ("The Harmonies of the World"). Having finally completed it in ql6l8, he dedicated it Ito James rof England, declaring that now that he had discovered the harmonious qualities and pr.oportions of aIM things, there wouLd no longer be the need, for human conflict. Kepler's opus had barely been pubJjshed wh~n the Thirty Years' War hroke out, thoroughly obscuring and interring all his endeavours. This happened as a result ali the so-called "Dcfenestration of P,ague" in which, on 21 st May [618, the envoys of the Austrian Kaiser were hurled from the windows of the Great Hall. Mozart, who took music, lIS resonances and harmonies to new heights, also suffered a similar fate: oblivion at the age of35 and burial in a common grave. APRIL-MAY 1996 NEXUS • 11