Hermann Hesse is a distinguished writer and Nobel Prize laureate in literature. His missionary father was a Baltic German, and Hesse himself was a citizen of the Russian Empire. Those who have read his works will not argue with the assertion that Hesse is a mystic, looking at his biography, one can better understand the European mystics of previous eras.
Even if ordinary, ordinary people are far from always alike, then what to say about unique personalities! Nevertheless, some common similarities between the mystics of different eras will surely be noted. But which ones? Herman, named after his grandfather, grew up as a naughty child. For any reason, he was offended, broke toys, fought and did not obey his parents. By the time the child was born, both the grandfather and the father of the future writer were engaged in missionary work in India. Along with Christian piety, he learned from childhood the stories about Buddha and Lao Tzu. Imagine just a combination of a Christian symbol and the mysterious smile of Buddha. From the cradle, Herman absorbs the wisdom of both the East and the West.
The boy was greatly impressed and influenced by the story that happened to his half-brother Theo. 18-year-old Theodor Isenberg worked for a pharmacist, but, contrary to his parental will, dreamed of becoming a musician. When they refused to send him to study at the Stuttgart Conservatory, Theo fled from the pharmacy. Two days and three nights later, he was found and forcibly returned home. He worked for another year, and then went to a music school. Young German made a conclusion for himself: disobedience is the freedom that art gives, and loneliness is evidence of talent.
Hermann showed his independent disposition and "rebellious" character during his studies at the Maulbronn seminary. He studies the Gospel diligently, but his thoughts are as heavy as the shoes of a seminarian. Hermann does not want to become a monk and, jokingly, says: "Besides, it is not proper for a German to wear tonsure." But the young man is not carried away by Luther, but by German romantics and Goethe. Herman is attracted by everything mystical, and when a hypnotist, a certain Zeller, appeared within the monastery walls, the young man agreed to an experiment.
And although in letters he says that “I prefer two or three hours of reading Cicero to an hour of gymnastics,” nevertheless he studies not only music and dramatic art, but also boxing. On March 7, 1892, after breakfast, Herman suddenly disappeared. Bad example from Brother Theo, or did something happen to a 15-year-old? Mtsyri did not leave Hesse, he returned to the monastery at noon the next day, having spent the night with books in an open field at minus nine without a coat, without gloves and without money.
One of the professors wrote to Hermann's father: “Hesse believes in life after death. This is not heaven and hell, this is a place where souls can communicate and be happy. Herman himself contemplates suicide and writes his parents a new letter and new blasphemy. The suicide, like the escape attempt, did not take place.
The authors of the biography of the writer Jacqueline and Michel Senes ask themselves why Hesse changed his mind: "In his actions, unrestrained and infantile are noticeable, an obvious desire to lead the mother to despair, corruption associated with the strange pleasure of feeling the closeness of death, as if this sensation contained life force." The elixir of this power was alcohol. Eyewitnesses wrote about Hesse's drunkenness during this period. His trips to pubs and brothels sometimes ended in the police district.
However, in mid-July 1893, Hermann Hesse gave up his drinking habit and successfully passed his matriculation exams. The crisis, if it had not yet passed, was no longer so terrible. A poet, writer and painter was born. Here, too, are untrodden paths, here, too, initiation awaits him, but these are already different stages - stages of creativity. The mystic in Hesse will appear after writing the story "Demian", which will appear in 1919. To the reader of his previous works, nothing will remind the former Hess.
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The next step will be "Siddhartha". Both of these works will be written after Hesse's visit to India. Many people spoke about the decline of European civilization then, and especially in German. Suffice it to recall Oswald Spengler here. But his views on Eastern religion will be similar to his father's: “A Muslim draws strength from an inexhaustible magical source, with which he gains a connection when he prostrates himself in prayer in the evening, wherever he is. The Buddhist feels this source in the cool corridor of his temple. If we do not touch this truth in the most sublime form of its manifestation, we, Europeans, will have no right to the East."
What did medieval mystics do - do we know which paths were chosen by the mystics of the 20th century? Of course, during the war years they were pacifists. In "Demian" Hermann Hesse writes: "The true vocation of everyone consists only in one thing - to come to himself … to find his own, and not his beloved destiny." In this book, Hesse made an attempt to get rid of what restrains the human soul, to "get out of the egg", to reach the depths of the soul and consciousness. This strange work, signed by the mystical name of Emil Sinclair, will become the gospel of the post-war youth. She will become prophetic. From the abyss into which Nietzsche once looked, Hesse was saved by creativity and friendship with Dr. Lang, which changed his worldview.
Booker Igor