Now know I, what I could not see before When I was lost entirely in my work, That he it was who wove around my thought Those beauteous pictures, which within my soul Brought forth wild impulses, which silent now Will surely one day gain control of me. TRUSTWORTHY: How can one who hath reached such spirit-heights And knows all this for certain, yet believe That he hath no escape from evil left? Why, thou canst see where danger for thee lies; And so canst crush it, and with courage save Thyself, and the results of thy great work: A spirit-pupil is in duty bound To kill what hinders progress in himself. THOMASIUS: I see, thou judgest not by cosmic laws, I could e'en now fulfil what thou dost wish And I myself could quite well tell myself In this same hour all that thou tellest me. But that which Karma now doth let me do Will not in future be permissible. For things must come which will o'ershadow me And darken all my spirit, till I turn To that which I described to thee just now. Then as the world progresses I will seize With greed on anything that's in my work Which can be used for harm, and all of this I will embody in my spirit-life. Then I shall have to love great Ahriman And joyfully to his possession give All that I have derived from earthly life. (Pause, during which Thomasius meditates deeply.) If all alone I could encounter this, And bear it also in my soul alone, I could await with fullest peace of mind All that was destined for me on my way. But it will harm your league as much as me. Whatever bad shall follow from my work Both for myself and other souls of men, Will find its balance through just Karma's law. The fact that ye fell victims to this fault Makes it far harder for the life of earth, Since ye are leaders in this self-same life And ought to read the spirit-worlds aright. Ye ought not to have failed to notice then That it was someone else, and not myself Who should have had the doing of this work. Ye should have known it must be put aside For now; and later would appear again Through one who otherwise would guide its course. So by your judgment, ye deprive the league Of rights it ought to have, if it would still Direct the service of the Sacred Place. Because this fate for you was shown to me I now appear upon your threshold here. Knowledge would otherwise have kept me far, For truly I can claim no blessing now Upon this work, which does both good and harm. HILARY: Dear brethren, that which we have just begun, Cannot be carried any further now. We must betake ourselves unto the Place From whence the Spirit can make known His will. (Hilary leaves the hall with Bellicosus, Torquatus, and Trustworthy. Doctor Strader and Felix Balde also leave. Only Maria and Thomasius are left.)