From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



' Death shows itself openly as the end of the 

 individual; but in this individual there is the germ 

 of a new being. Therefore nothing that dies in it, 

 dies for ever; but nothing that is born receives an 

 essentially new existence. That which dies, perishes ; 

 but a germ remains whence arises a new life which 

 enters on existence without knowing whence it 

 comes, nor why it is what it is. This is the mystery 

 of palingenesis (re-birth). 



' The human being may therefore be considered 

 from either of two opposite points of view. From 

 the first he is an individual beginning and ending 

 in Time, a transitory phenomenon. . . . From the 

 other he is the original indestructible being which is 

 objectified in every existing person. No doubt such 

 a being could do better than manifest himself in a 

 world like this a finite world of suffering and 

 death. That which is in him and proceeds from 

 him must end and die. But that which never leaves 

 him nor desires to leave him goes through him like 

 a lightning stroke and then knows neither Time 

 nor Death.' l 



Thus, then, the individual consciousness, like the 

 universe, has no real and proper existence. It is a 

 temporary function of will. It is born of the will to live. 



And the will to live is the consequence of an unfor- 

 tunate illusion of the will. 



2. SCHOPENHAUER S PESSIMISM 



This pessimism, which is expressed in pages of great 

 eloquence, follows with rigorous logic on his premises. 



If individualisation and consciousness are but passing 

 illusions soon to disappear, all effort, troubles, and 

 sufferings end in nothing. The injustices endured are 



1 Schopenhauer : Religion. 

 193 



