148 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
148 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 9 Num. 91
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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"POSTMODERN" PILATE
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(From *A New Model of the Universe* by P.D. Ouspensky)
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Speaking generally, in order to understand the idea of superman
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it is useful to have in mind everything opposed to the idea.
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From this point of view it is interesting to note that besides a
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devil in check trousers who has had himself vaccinated [see
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*Brothers Karamazoff* by Dostoevsky], there is another very
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well-known type, uniting in itself all in man that is most
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opposed to the superhuman. Such is the Roman procurator of Judea
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in the time of Jesus -- Pontius Pilate.
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The role of Pilate in the gospel tragedy is extremely
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characteristic and significant, and if it was a conscious role,
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it would be one of the most difficult. But is strange that
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perhaps of all the roles of the Gospel drama the role of Pilate
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needs least of all to be a conscious one. Pilate could not "make
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a mistake," could not act in this way or in that way, and
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therefore he was taken in his natural state as a part of the
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surroundings and conditions, just as were the people who gathered
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in Jerusalem for the Passover and the crowd who shouted "crucify
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him." And the role of Pilate is identical with the roles of the
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"Pilates" in life in general. It is not sufficient to say that
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Pilate tried Jesus, wanted to free him, and finally executed him.
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This does not determine the essence of his nature. The chief
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point lies in the fact that Pilate was almost the only one who
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*understood* Jesus. He understood him, of course, in his own
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Roman way; yet, in spite of understanding, he delivered him to be
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scourged and executed. Pilate was undoubtedly a very clever man,
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well educated and cultured. He saw very clearly that the man who
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stood before him was no criminal "preaching sedition to the
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people" or "inducing them not to pay their taxes," etc., as was
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declared to him by the "truly Jewish people" {1} of that time;
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that this man was not a pretender, not an imposter who called
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himself the King of Judea, but simply a "philosopher," as he
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could define Jesus to himself.
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This "philosopher" aroused his sympathy, even his compassion.
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The Jews clamouring for the blood of an innocent man were
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repellent to him. He tried to help Jesus. But it was too much
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for him to fight for Jesus in earnest and incur unpleasantness,
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so, after a short hesitation, Pilate delivered him up to the
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Jews.
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It was probably in his mind that he was serving Rome and in this
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particular case was safeguarding the peace of its rulers,
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maintaining order and quiet among the subject people, averting
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the cause of possible unrest, even sacrificing an innocent man
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for it. It was done in the name of politics, in the name of
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Rome, and the responsibility seemed to fall on Rome. Certainly
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Pilate could not have known that the days of Rome itself were
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already numbered, and that he himself was creating one of the
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forces that were to destroy Rome. But the thinking of Pilates
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never goes so far as that. Moreover, Pilate with regard to his
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own actions had a very convenient philosophy: everything is
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relative, everything is a question of point of view, nothing is
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of any particular value. It was a practical application of the
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"principle of relativity." On the whole Pilate is a very modern
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man. With such a philosophy it is easy to find the way amidst
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the difficulties of life.
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Jesus even helped him; he said:
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For this came I into the world that I should bear witness
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unto the truth.
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"What is truth?" ironically answered Pilate.
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And this at once put him into his accustomed way of thinking and
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acting, reminded him who and where he was, showed him how he
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should look at things.
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Pilate's essential feature is that he sees the truth but does not
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wish to follow it. In order to avoid following the truth which
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he sees, he has to create for himself a special sceptical and
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mocking attitude towards the very idea of truth and towards the
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adherents of the idea. In his own heart he is no longer able to
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regard them as criminals; he has outgrown this; but he must
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cultivate in himself a certain slightly ironical attitude towards
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them, which will allow him to sacrifice them when it is
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necessary.
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Pilate went so far that he even tried to set Jesus free, but of
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course he would not have allowed himself to do anything that
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could compromise him. This would have made him ridiculous in his
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own eyes. When his attempts failed, as probably he could
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foresee, he came out to the people and washed his hands, showing
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by this that he disclaimed all responsibility.
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The whole of Pilate is in this. The symbolical washing of hands
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is indissolubly connected with the image of Pilate. The whole of
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him is in this gesture.
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For a man of real inner development there cannot be any washing
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of hands. This gesture of inner deceit can never belong to such
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a man.
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"Pilate" is a type expressing that which in cultured humanity
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hinders the inner development of man, and forms the chief
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obstacle on the way to superman. Life is full of big and small
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Pilates. "The crucifixion of Christ" can never be accomplished
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without their help.
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They see and understand the truth perfectly. But any
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"regrettable necessity," or interests of politics as understood
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by them, or interests of their own position, may force them to
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betray truth and then *to* *wash* *their* *hands*.
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---------------------------<< Notes >>---------------------------
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{1} ...the "truly Jewish people"... An allusion [by Ouspensky]
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to a patriotic organization with strong pogrom tendencies in
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pre-war [pre-WWI] Russia -- "truly Russian people."
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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