The Illusionary Ticket to Salvation

By: Hermann Hesse

I surrender to my inability 
to comprehend the ultimate 
meaning of life, but I am 
willing to sense it, even if 
it requires sacrificing 
myself. 

You cannot force this faith 
on anyone, not even yourself, 
but it can become experience. 

The absence of this felt faith 
is usually replaced by beliefs 
in a church or in science or 
in patriotism or socialism, 
some kind of refuge where 
conventional moralities, 
conformist programs 
and standardized recipes 
are dispersed. 

Certified affiliations, lifelong 
membership cards to organize 
social structures guarantee 
a false comfort, the illusion 
of security, the illusionary 
ticket to salvation.