The Terrestrial Gospel of
Kazantzakis: Inspiration for Saving the Earth
“Good is this earth, it
suits us”1
Thanasis Maskaleris
Abstract
The
terrestrial dimension in the work of Kazantzakis, crowned by the paeans he sang
to the infinite beauty of the earth and to the human life rooted in the soil, is
as intensely depicted as his momentous struggle to achieve spiritual ascent.
Scattered in his writings we find innumerable passages on the fundamental
importance of the material realm combined with his humanistic commitment to
mankind's terrestrial habitat—to live and "flower" in it;
and his spiritual growth, the ascent, is crucially
linked with and depends on the material base.2
These passages, often a surging lyricism and ritual adoration, can provide for
us today, our threatened planet, not only inspiration for ecological concern and
action but also an ethical base that could strengthen the panoplies for such
action. A selection of the best of such passages could become an eco-pulsing
gospel in our struggle for survival.
Using passages from several of his works I will attempt to demonstrate the
significance of the Kazantzakian embrace of the earth and suggest how it can
inspire and nurture committed ecological action, especially if combined with his
principle of
χρέος/
ευθύνη--
dutiful service/responsibility-- the central animating force of his ethical
humanism.
Before I proceed to my
thoughts on the subject I have chosen for this presentation, I would like to
define a principle for approaching Kazantzakis’ complex life and work, the
various dimensions, στρώματα και υποστρώματα, of his mind and spirit. My belief
is that all dimensions of his inner life and created work are essential and each
one should be fathomed both in itself and in relation to the others.
Kazantzakis’
socio-political concerns and commitments, his humanistic fire that aims at
preserving and enhancing human dignity, his never-abating struggle for
freedom—both individual and pananthropic—and his spiritual struggle on the
ascending path are all essential, all sacred to him. Individual readers and
critics may emphasize and elevate a particular realm as more significant to
them, but should be open to views on the other parts of his profound experiences
and his vision. It’s best that hierarchizing is avoided, if possible, because it
may lead to narrowing his world and, also, to dogmatism over which realm of the
Kazantzakian universe is more important.
My students,
throughout my many years of teaching Kazantzakis, have perfectly demonstrated
the validity of the above principle by responding to and emphasizing a chosen
theme or dimension of the Kazantzakian world, always receiving plentiful
humanistic nurturing from him, for their inner development.
The realm in the
work of Kazantzakis that I have chosen to mine for this celebratory occasion is
the terrestrial—his passionate embracing of the earth and his hymning of the
life and beauty of Nature. All of Kazantzakis’ works contain a vast number of
passages about rocks, soil, seeds, rain, air, rainbows, the sea, flowers, and
flowering. I believe no other modern writer has written so extensively about the
cosmogonic energies of Nature, with as much poetic brilliance. And what is more,
he constantly integrates the terrestrial, the material womb of life, with human
life in all its manifestations -- and this with insights and a dynamism that
only mythology can surpass. Human life, he passionately declares, is rooted in
the earth’s soil and its growth parallels the essential life of Nature. As
André
Mirambel has observed:
<<… κάθε λογοτεχνική δημιουργία του Καζαντζάκη πάντα πηγάζει από
την πραγματικότητα, την παρατήρηση και την ανάλυση που περιβάλλοντος, τη σχέση
του ανθρώπου και της γης.>>3
[… each literary creation of Kazantzakis always has reality as
its source—is based on observation and analysis of the environment, the
relationship of the human being with the earth.”
]
Speaking about the future of
humanity in one of his letters Kazantzakis writes:<<…μα
και πιο πέρα, η μακρινότερη στιγμή θα είναι περίλαμπρη.
Ακόμα είμαι βέβαιος, το ανθρώπινο γένος δέ φανέρωσε όλες τις πλούσιες μέσα του
πιθανότητες, η κοιλιά της γης είναι ακόμα γεμάτη αυγά…Αυτά τα γήινα αυγά πρέπει
να να σωθούν…>>4
[ “…but on into the future, the most remote moment will be
supremely luminous. I am certain the human race has not yet manifested all the
rich inside it possibilities; the womb of the earth is still full of eggs…and
these eggs must be saved.” ]
As
Kazantzakis depicts them, the gifts of the earth are boundless : the great joy
of the senses,
the heart and the soul, as they take in her beauty; then there is the gift of
nurturing all living things and sustaining all growth. But Kazantzakis does not
stop there. He derives from Nature, especially those who work the soil,
essential lessons that can become foundations in building individual character
and communal life. Together with the fruits of the earth, comes the earth-hewn
wisdom of farmers, shepherds, artisans and all those who work earth’s infinite
matter.
A few examples from the body
of the earth-hymning passages will reveal more than my description or assessment
of this Kazantzakian realm: In a letter, written when he was 65, he writes:
<<Κυττάζω από τα δύο παραθυράκια τον κόσμο και δε χορταίνω να τον
βλέπω. Τι θάμα είναι τούτος ο κόσμος!>>5
[ “I look at the world from these two little windows and never get enough of it.
What a miracle this world is!”]
<<Ελαμπε
η μέρα αχάραγο διαμάντι>>.
Οσο ανεβαίναμε, ανέβαινε κ’ η ψυχή, καθάριζε. Δοκίμαζα πάλι τί ψυχικήν
αξία έχει η λαγαράδα του αγέρα, η αλαφράδα της αναπνοής, το πλάτος του ορίζοντα.
Θαρείς κ’ είναι η ψυχή ένα αγρίμι, με πλεμόνια και ρουθούνια, έχει ανάγκη από
πολύ οξυγόνο…
>>6
[ “ The day
shone like an uncut diamond. As we climbed the soul climbed too, getting more
pure. Once again I felt the impact on the soul of pure air, of easy breathing,
of the great expanse to the horizon. You would think that the soul, too, was a
wild animal with lungs and nostrils, needing lots of oxygen…” ]
<<Πόσo
είναι όλα, συλλογίστηκα, τέλεια συνταιριασμένα απάνω στη γής! Και πόσο καλά η
γης είναι συνταιριασμένη μετη καρδιά που ανθρώπου!>>7
[“How
perfectly everything is harmonized on this earth, I thought!. How well the earth
is harmonized with the human heart!”]
“We’re
taking root, my children, we’re once more getting hold of the earth, we’re
sprouting afresh, we’re growing trunks and branches; have confidence.”8
“Last night
I saw him [St. George] in my dream; he stretched out his arm and placed in my
hand the seed of a village—a tiny village in my palm, with its church, its
school, its gardens—and he said to me: plant it!”
9
“All this
time the earth below and the sun above were working in concert without rest to
ripen the grain. The ears, swollen with milk, became hard. The plain was red
with poppies. The singing birds had gathered hair, straw and mud and had built
their nests; the female, with outstretched wings was warming up the eggs. In
front of her, perched on a branch, the male sang to give her courage. From time
to time longed-for and rare showers brought some coolness, but soon the sun
re-appeared and, chasing away the clouds, went on with his task, old as the
world, of helping men and birds.”
10
As I worked on this presentation, with the terrestrial Kazantzakis in me, the
following idea came to my mind: to anthologize earth-passages from his opus, and
publish them as a terrestrial gospel
to be read by the growing ranks of ecologists in the different lands of our
planet. I am certain that it would give them inspiration and strength to
continue their struggles to save the earth. Our environment and too many people
across the globe are in critical situations, threatened by extreme poverty or
disasters due to recent climate changes ; every kind of panoply is needed in the
fight to reverse the present catastrophic course. Flooded with excessive,
soulless technology and driven by greed our world needs the teachings of
Kazantzakis: the harmonization of Man and Nature, together with his humanistic
ethical stance based on duty and responsibility --χρέος
και ευθύνη--in our lives. Passages like the following from The Saviors of God :
Spiritual Exercises, may significantly spearhead a new wave of ecological
concern and much needed action:
“This vineyard of earth is ours, our own flesh and blood.”
“Every man has his own
circle of trees, animals, men, ideas, and he is in duty bound to save this
circle. He, and no one else. If he does not save it, he cannot be saved.”12
“Love responsibility. Say:
It is my duty, and mine alone, to save the earth. If it is not saved then I
alone am to blame.”13
Kazantzakis the
great combatant would certainly join today’s fighters for our earth, since he
believed that the saviors of God must first be saviors of the Earth.
NOTES
1Nikos
Kazantzakis,The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, Prologue
2
This is not the place to discus the great dialectical paradox in Kazantzakis;
his being rooted in the material world while at the same time he is struggling
to rise above and beyond it— the coexistence in him of mud and spirit.
3
Καινούρια Εποχή. Φθινόπωρο 1958, σ. 173
4
Letter to Börje Knös, in Νίκος Καζαντζάκης, Ο Ασυμβίβαστος,(Athens,1977)
σ.574
5
Letter to Börje Knös Καινούρια Εποχή. Φθινόπωρο 1958, σ. 151
6
Βίος και η Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, (Athens,
1954 ) σ. 244-5
7
Ibid. σ. 158
8
Christ Recrucified, ( London, 1954 ) p. 172
9
Ibid. p. 91
10
Ibid. p.193
11The
Saviors of God : Spiritual Exercises,
p.56
12
Ibid. p. 121-2
13
Ibid. p. 68
I have already begun work on this anthology, aiming to finish it as soon as
possible.
This
paper was presented at the Kazantzakis conference in New York—March 3, 2007
(
Submitted to the Journal of Modern Greek Studies )
Thanasis Maskaleris
Professor Emeritus of
Comparative & Modern Greek Literature
Founding Director, Center for Modern Greek Studies/ Nikos Kazantzakis Chair
San Francisco State University
Co-translator of Kazantzakis’
Russia
and co-editor of Modern
Greek Poetry—An Anthology (Talisman House, Publishers, 2004)
