"but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Whoever disowns the rational, established connection on which all earthly existences are founded, disowns his own deeper life too, because it likewise rests on eternal laws.

Another characteristic feature in the temptations of Buddha is found in the fact that, when, left to his own resources, in a state of self-dependence, he had attained to inner freedom, Mâra, the Evil One, approached him with the summons: "Enter now into Nirvâna, Exalted One; enter into Nirvâna, Accomplished One; now the time of Nirvâna has come for the Exalted One." Here Nirvâna is the "eternal abode" beyond this life, and here is found an allusion to that temptation to self-destruction to which the man of genius is exposed when his will, strained to the utmost, breaks against the barriers of the Finite.

In this essay, above all, the deeper, essential elements in the doctrines of Buddha and Christ, and at the same time their mutual agreement have been pointed out. In a larger work, in which a more detailed exposition will be given of that which is here frequently only hinted at, the attempt will be made to explain also the difference between the doctrines of Buddha and Christ, a difference which to a great extent has its origin in the character of the two nations from which these two supreme men of genius arose.

1 Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 139; Windisch, Māra and Buddha, p. 201.

XI.

TEMPORAL SUPERHUMANITY

IN ALEXANDER, CÆSAR, AND

NAPOLEON

THE relationship between the Saviour and the conqueror of the world, which was pointed out in the preceding chapter,1 will appear very strange to those who cannot imagine that the mainspring of lives characterised by such a display of power and so replete with deeds of violence as those led by these great conquerors was not selfishness of the most terrible and boundless description. To the purely superficial observer of things it will indeed appear to be selfishness; he only sees that these men, these geniuses of action, carried out their purposes with the utmost disregard of others, and that their whole energy was directed to the attainment of the highest pinnacle of power. On a closer examination of the development of these men of might and a more careful study of their minds, it will be found that, on the one hand, they showed the keenest insight into the real condition of affairs, but that, on the other hand, they lived entirely in a world of ideas, and in the boldest manner threw themselves into the struggle for the realisation of these ideas, to which they were entirely devoted, and it will be recognised that the idea which contends in their innermost souls most strongly for expression was that of the highest, 1 Cp. pp. 251-4.

the most perfect state of existence. Carl Bleibtreu, speaking of Napoleon, observes, "Genius is nothing but a clearer consciousness of the Infinite." But it is by no means essential that these great men should clearly recognise this truth. Nay, since their ideas were always closely connected with actualities from the accurate observation of which sprang both the first impulse and the subsequent incentive to the development of their views, they are repulsed by all merely fantastic ideas, ideas which are devoid of any real foundation and may rightly be described as purely imaginative.

Goethe, with special reference to Napoleon, makes the following very subtle and profound statements: "Of the Absolute in the theoretical sense I will not venture to speak; yet this I may maintain: that he who recognises it in its manifestations and ever keeps his gaze towards it, will derive very great reward therefrom.

directed

"To live in the Idea means treating the impossible as though it were possible. The same thing applies to Character: if both an Idea and a Character come together, they give rise to events which fill the world with amazement for thousands of years.

"Napoleon, who lived altogether in the Idea, was nevertheless unable to consciously grasp it; he utterly disavowed all ideals and denied them the smallest particle of reality, the while he was zealously striving to realise them. But his clear and incorruptible intellect could not endure such a perpetual inner conflict; and it is very interesting to note the peculiar and charming manner in which, under compulsion, as it were, he expresses his views upon it.

"He considered the Idea as a thing of the mind which has no actual reality, but which, when it vanishes, leaves behind it a residuum (caput mortuum) to which we cannot 1 Der Imperator (Napoleon 1814), 2. Auflage, 1893, p. 376.

altogether deny some measure of reality. This may to us appear a decidedly perverse and material view; yet he expressed himself quite differently when entertaining his friends, in entire belief and confidence, with the neverceasing consequences of his life and actions. Then, indeed, he readily admitted that life produces life, and that a fruitful act is effective for all time. He was glad to acknowledge that he had given a fresh impulse, a new direction, to the course of the world." 1

"It will always remain a most remarkable fact that people whose personality is almost entirely idea are so extremely averse to the fantastic."

Bleibtreu, with reference to Napoleon, speaks of the "universality and grandeur" of genius. He says: "All things small and petty the mind inspired by genius thrusts aside, to turn to the wide and lofty spheres of contemplation. In this sense genius is ever ‘idealistic'... And thus Napoleon was fundamentally the most intense 'idealist.' He lived and moved only in the realm of great political ideas that he strove to realise." 2

Men whose thoughts do not reach far, and who cannot grasp the universal, typical relations between existing things, consider it impossible that the essence of genius should consist in disinterested love, in complete devotion to æsthetic sensation, to philosophic thought, or to creative action, in complete devotion to ideas which the man of genius strives to realise in the realm of art, philosophy, public affairs, or religion. This close attachment to his great ideas is, indeed, also the special characteristic of the conqueror of the world, which imparts to him the "demonic" feature so inexplicable to ordinary men. In contrast with his conception of an absolute, most perfect

1 Criticisms, Reflections, and Maxims. Translated by W. B. Rönnfeldt, 2 Der Imperator (Napoleon 1814), pp. 333-4.

p. 189-91.

existence, a conception by which in his innermost soul he is exclusively occupied, the objects and efforts of other men appear to him so entirely insignificant, he finds himself so completely circumscribed and hemmed in by outward factors, that life becomes a burden to him. His sense of reality and truth is too strong to allow him to deceive himself into disregarding all actualities in the manner of Stirner and Nietzsche, and to find the absolute state of being in his own imaginary "creative" power. Apparently only suicide can deliver him from earthly misery. But his vital force is too strong to allow of his finding in selfdestruction a release from the weariness of life. Accordingly he faces the world without self-delusion and without fear or hope. An absolute, true, and perfect existence such as would completely satisfy the soul cannot be found here below, it can neither be gained nor lost, it is quite out of the question: all else, however, is, at the best, but a reflection of the truly perfect: "All transitory things are sent but as symbols." Thus he can throw off all disturbing care about the final result of his own actions, all paralysing anxiety about their ultimate success. Outwardly fettered, but inwardly free, self-dependent, the man of genius now gives himself up to his great ideas with undivided interest, and attempts in the boldest manner to realise them, well knowing that the issue depends on external circumstances the influence of which is, after all, incalculable. For the very reason that the man of genius, deep down in his heart, neither fears nor hopes anything and is untroubled by anxiety for the present life or the hereafter, he can devote himself to his work with all his soul, with a love which is disinterested disinterested taken in the wider sense as exemplified by the man who, in all sensations, thoughts, and actions does not always in bitter earnest keep in view the ultimate practical result to himself or