system, and in the Upanishads upon which it rests, but really it is
the common basis of all religions.[28] It breathes in the poems of
Hafiz, in the philosophy of Parmenides, Plato, and the Stoics, in the
profound wisdom of Ecclesiastes, in mediaeval mysticism, and the faith
of the early Christian Church. Buddhism and Christianity are both
pessimist in their origin. It is not an "opinion," i.e. a creed or
formula which may be weighed and either accepted or rejected, but is
an insight which, when once understood and felt, is as self-evident as
the air we breathe. But it is an insight which can only be attained
through moral discipline, never through the rationalism of vulgar and
self-seeking minds. Nor is it for those who are enlightened at all
moments of their lives, but only in times of poetic exaltation, when
the faculties are awake and become creative.

[Footnote 28: Except Islam, which is rather a moral discipline than a
religion.]




CHAPTER VIII

ON CERTAIN OBJECTIONS TO THE WAGNERIAN DRAMA


In this chapter I propose to consider certain criticisms which are
often made on Wagner's treatment of the drama, which differ from some
of those mentioned before, in being intelligible and worthy of
respect, since they have not been made maliciously or through
ignorance. In so far as they are invalid they rest upon