70 – 73 THE PATHS IN LIFE ARE SIMILAR TO THE DIFFERENT PATHS CLIMBING THE RAX
Among all the peaks he had ever climbed, and all the mountains where he liked to stay, the Rax enjoyed a special position. She was his vanguard in the literal and tran the sense, that perspective point where all the many parallel lines of his life were running together again and again.
The Alpine and the Rax in particular were also for Frankl the personal experience space, in which he became aware of any essential feature in man, for which he used the term «self-transcendence».
Do what is right and choose the best option in any situation, true to your conscience: Viktor Frankl described the path to meaning concretely and realistically with three «main routes«. We can find meaning by realizing creative values. So either by making a contribution, for example, or by creating a work that creates something of value in the world. That is why it is so important to follow a profession that not only fills our time but also our lives with meaning. The second route to meaning is experiential value: activities that we associate with positive feelings, which are exciting, interesting, funny or touching for us – in particular
According to Frankl, interpersonal encounters also fall into this category of a meaningful opportunity. And thirdly, attitudes that still come into play even when we find ourselves in life in unalterable, promising, fateful situations. Only we men have the spiritual freedom to choose our inner approach to external conditions. This enables us to overcome difficult challenges such as accidents or incurable illness, death or separation from loved ones by maintaining an attitude that has a deeper sense of guilt,
Do what is right and choose the best option in any situation, true to your conscience: Viktor Frankl described the path to meaning concretely and realistically with three «main routes«. We can find meaning by realizing creative values. So either by making a contribution, for example, or by creating a work that creates something of value in the world . That is why it is so important to follow a profession that not only fills our time but also our lives with meaning. The second route to meaning is experiential value: activities that we associate with positive feelings, which are exciting, interesting, funny or touching for us – in particular
Nothing enabled him to realize his values as much as the self-transcendent act of climbing and mountaineering that nourished his soul, as generations of fellow-men have experienced before and after him.
The extensive Rax massif, which divides into the federal states of Lower Austria and Styria, cannot be seen in its character with one glance, unlike the marginal silhouette of the Schneeberg. With almost 900 climbs – from the hiking trail to the strenuous climbing route – the Rax makes the way to the destination, offering gentle meadows and monumental walls, wide paths and narrow paths over long gravel fields. A mountain as multifaceted, surprising and deep as the soul of man.
This cosmos, which spreads between the Höllental in the east, the small village of Naßwald in the north, the Kahlmäuern in the west and the Preiner Gschaid in the south, offered for
75-76 ROOM 2 AT THE INN AT THE HIRSWWAN VALLY STATION OF THE MOUNTAIN RAILWAY / VIEWS OF THE RAX
Viktor Frankls’ exploratory nature, everything that characterizes a place of longing. His visits to the Rax were so frequent , he loved it so much that he even stayed at the inn, which is part of the mountain station, as a permanent tenant.
Room 2 was his refuge for decades, and when time allowed. A staircase behind the tavern leads up to the first floor. We gently open the door and slowly enter. We only whisper to each other, so as not to offend the intimacy of this room. The simple, generous, somewhat winding room with washing facilities still breathes the spirit of that time; We experience the same immediacy here as in the Frankls’ apartment in Vienna.
Room 2 is no longer given away, as if the memory of this great Austrian was now the new permanent tenant. We look out of the window across the steep slopes to the south into a clear and sunny expanse. And do what Viktor Frankl did on other days: we set out for his beloved Preiner wall.
This rock cascade teaches all those who think that there are no real walls to climb in eastern Austria. It reaches up to 400 meters in the sky. The heart of the building is the preiner wall plate, a pulley-like rock table of almost consterningly smooth. In contrast to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Höllental, the scenery here is more open, friendly and free. Veterans such as Rudolf Klose and Fritz Schmid found in the 1930s – thanks to improved siche-rungstechnik – the first paths through the preiner wall plate and soon afterwards also in the nearby Lechnermauern on the Rax plateau.
82-83 MENTAL CONCENTRATION HONED ON THE RAX AS LIFE SAVING AND TEACHES THE DEFIANCE OF SPIRIT
Sometimes Frankl used the same mental technique that his climbing partner Rudi Reif practiced for comfort in exile in Shanghai and called «brain climbing«. This return to his passion as an alpinist and the trance-like immersion in one’s own mountain experiences was often the ultimate warming spark of humanity
When he was ill with typhus, the same commandment applied to his act as to mountaineers in the Notbiwak: under all circumstances be awake at night and keep moving so as not to fall into delirium, not to fall asleep, not to fall asleep. The»Defiance of the Spirit» won again: instead of giving in to complete exhaustion, Frankl reconstructed his manuscript on paper shreds in steno symbols.
89-91 STEPS BACK INTO THE WORLD / HIS ANIMAL: THE ROCK / ELLIE’S ANIMAL: WATER / AND INNER PEACE AND DECISION MAKING The day Elli entered his life, his steps back into his new life became easier. Despite and also because of their age difference of 20 years. She took him, in good Viennese, at the «Schmäh«, and he took her by the hand and showed her his place of longing, the Rax – and later the whole world.
And now, after having suffered and passed through his own personal hell valley, he could finally share his enthusiasm with the woman he loved. Almost every free week-end they spent in the mountains. At Ellis’s request, as a contrast to climbing, beach visits in the Gän-sehäufel-Bad on the Alte Donau were sometimes on the program. His animal was the rock, her the water.
For the always driven, internationally sought-after scientist who hardly knew any free time, the time on the Rax offered the rare opportunity to come to some inner peace. He enjoyed the alpine ambience on the plateau, pursued new ideas, forged plans and let go of what was still to be done for a long time.» Anyway, I go to the mountains (like others to the desert) to gather myself, on one-way paths, say, over the plateau of the Rax. There are hardly any important decisions, or important decisions that I would not have taken on such lonely wanderings there«, he wrote later in his autobiography.
93-94 REPITITION ZEN AND AWARENESS CHANGING LARGE INTO SMALL How often Frankl climbed his favourite route is not over-supplied. In the Steigbuch, which can be found in a tin box in the upper part of the Drei-Enzian-Steigs, there is hardly any page on Frankls aktivsten pages that did not contain his name.
Why he climbed the Three Gentian Trail so ritualistically without getting tired of it. Perhaps he gave him, the regular guest of the Rax, the opportunity to stay in the familiar and see new aspects again and again in the supposedly well-known? To touch ever deeper layers of perception in oneself and to make ever new references? From the Zen monks, who in everyday monastic life always perform the same simple works with clear awareness and ho-her mindfulness, we know that the repetition of repetition can always be the initial spark of new knowledge. In any case, the meditative leads to a deeper understanding of our existence. It is a journey to the essence of our being, our meaning, a way to mastery.
Here an analogy between alpinism and science emerges: Frankl did not only climb as a climber, but also always as the founder of logotherapy through the walls, as a scientist of world-class fame. Precisely the perspective-viscous swivel between the realities of his life allowed him to discover in the nuances of the familiar small ever new angles on the larger whole, to understand the world and man more holistic and thus expand his worldview.
95 BECOMING ONE WITH THE ROCK HAPPINESS IN SIMPLE LIFE Had been an athlete, made up – especially in the advanced years – the decline of his physical strength by a refined technique. From repetition he could adapt better and better to the rock, read it and understand it, become one with it: So he did not pull himself up by handles, Especially pushed – the principle of the modern climbing school – skillfully and power-saving each out of the legs up.
Happiness defined Frankl as a «side effect of the meaning«, and he experienced many happy moments in the mountains, especially on the Rax. Especially in the interaction with people in this place so special for him. The Neue Seehütte, directly at the exits of the Preiner-Wand tours, he loved for the possibility to disappear into normality and anonymity. In this traditional shelter, which does not offer places to stay, he had his place directly in the kitchen. He enjoyed the colourful activity, the humor and the often rough jokes of the other climbers, the exchange with like-minded people. Was not man, he served – unknowingly – the guests food and drinks. If he got a tip, it embarrassed him. Here Frankl fulfilled a tie-fe desire: to be part of the simple life.
102 THIRD EYE CHANGING LARGE INTO SMALL The change of perspective from panoramic view to microscope image is fluid and accompanies us on the inner journey to ourselves. The breath is our tachograph for a change in desire, which simultaneously causes vitalization and harmo-nization. Along the turns of an approach, the changing vegetation and landscape we go more and more in the area. The air becomes thinner, thoughts become clearer, freer. Rumination, the brooding over misfortunes, fears and worries in our daily lives, subsides and eventually dissolves completely. Despite effort, we are carried by an inner vision when climbing the mountain because we constantly leave things that are stressful under us – and at some point know all behind us. We become part of this larger connection by forgetting ourselves. It is a constant sinking into the self-transcendence, as Vik-tor Frankl has called this condition as a logotherapist and as a mountaineer himself repeatedly experienced. Also with us this inward-centering perspective opens up. Frankl had described their effect on the basis of the visual process: The sunde eye does not see itself. It is only healthy when it looks away from itself. But if clouds, shadows or spots appear in our field of vision, something is wrong with the eye, with our binoculars into the world.
103-105 WHY CLIMB, DEFIANCE OF SPIRIT AND FOLLOWING THE PATH OF LAID DOWN BY OTHERS BEFORE US Our motives for wanting to climb may be different: »Because the mountain is there«(as Mount Everest pioneer George Mallory said) or »Because the border is an end in itself« (as Messner postulated). Frankl put it this way: In the mountains we are found by the sense without having to look for it
Viktor Frankl was here in the 1920s and after the end of the Second World War probably did not rise as much as we do today. He hardly grabbed differently and probably used the same kicks in the tricky passages. Just like us, he had to sometimes try the defiance of the spirit on this abandoned tour and has experienced very similar moments of respect, pride and joy. This connection across space and time comes alive when we follow the routes of previous generations of climbers – climbing is also a cord of experience in the broadest sense.
110 – 112 ZEN MASTERS WITNESSING THE MOUNTAINEERS TENSION BETWEEN IMPULSE AND HAPPINESS IN THE MOMENT We pass wind-infested pines, which like defiant Zen masters hang out on the wayside. They are silent witnesses to the multitude of mountaineering passers-by who have come and gone here over the years, and have been Schneebergs, who laughed and joked, were enthusiastic or desperate and after a successful route – like us – have already dreamed of the next adventures.
The rising – in action and thinking – is the primary motivation of mountaineers. This symbolic »more «is the next step to the summit, as well as the feeling of being able to face a challenge, a higher mountain, a more difficult route or a more challenging place in the mountains . The vertical brings us into a permanent field of tension between the desire to follow our inner impulse, to strive higher and upwards, but also – in the sense of the far-eastern ideal – to see and find happiness in the moment.\
112 BALANCE BETWEEN MENTAL AND PHYSICAL According to Alfried Längle, one of his long-time employees, it was always important for him that he could reach the edge of exhaustion on his mountain tours. In this formulation, Franks’ urgency is also hidden in his own cause, a balance-balancing between his tireless thinking and to create physical effort.» I think that Viktor needed the challenge,» also confirmed Elli Frankl.»
113 – 115 CHOICE OF LUKAS AND CHOICE TO STAY IN AUSTRA BECAUSE OF THE RAX Giselher Guttmann, formerly dean of the faculty of philosophy at the University of Vienna, and later also the founding dean of the Sigmund Freud Private University, is particularly grateful to him for this. The two first ascents that took place at ground level: Frank’s first lecture as a newly-established university professor in 1955 was also the very first one attended by the 29 year younger student Guttmann.» I read Logotherapy, thought to myself, interesting, you listen to it once and was impressed«, revealed Guttmann in a conversation for this book.» But we got in touch personally only 15 years later, when Viktor Frankl approached me because he wanted to have the logo therapy empirically examined. « Guttmann chose Elisabeth Lukas as the very first doctoral candidate for logo therapy at all.
How can we imagine Viktor Frankl as an alpinist? Guttmann: »He was ambitious. And he was really good. At Fritz Zawadil he has also climbed in the front again and again. « Zawadil, a fellow Viennese on the ropes, had also asked why he did not want to take over any of the permanent professorships offered him in America:»They have neither a Rax nor a snow mountain there. «
116 – 119 MOUNTAIN CLIMBINGS AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE / ACEPTANCE OF AMBIVALENCE Life is a mountain tour through many levels and sections no walk. In the afterlife of generations we are first-mover on our personal development path, in the foreplay of all who follow. Is our way of life mapped out? We don’t know. We go forward and understand with hindsight: step by step we move over a narrow ridge of our decisions, which crosses the endless panorama of contrasts and contradictions in us and in the world. Again and again we get out of balance on it and thereby gain in stability in the permanent interplay between»either – or «and»both – and«. Perhaps that is why we are drawn to the mountains: because they teach us to accept ambivalence as a condition of life more easily.
119 CREATION OF MOMENTS / APPRECIATE TO BEAUTY OF LIFE Mountains allow us to create great, unforgettable moments: standing on a summit in the first light of morning, feeling the breath of nature in our faces, while we get off the plane. Up there, in the rocks, there we can grow beyond ourselves, let seemingly impossible things become possible, master key points, overcome inner resistance. And when we fall into the arms of a successful tour, everything is fine, and we feel how beautiful life is.
119-120 HOW CLOSE TRIUMPS AND TRAGEDY ARE / WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN DECISIONS / SOMETINES TRAGEDYS STILL HAPPEN The mountains also teach us that our inner ideal image does not always coincide with the external reality. The history of mountaineering is full of life-stories. It shows how close triumph and tragedy are in each moment, how glorious first ascents through minimal carelessness or simply bad luck «suddenly end in disaster and how people – despite their experience, their skill, their prudence, their commitment, their will, their optimism – can tragically fail.
The ambivalence we are exposed to between heaven and abyss is more immediate than those in the valley. This is the honesty we love about mountains, because they give us feedback on the consequences of our decisions and actions and keep us in touch with our own responsibility. Quid pro quo, this for that: Alpine nature knows and accepts only the law of cause and effect.
If it’s cold and we don’t have a jacket, we get cold. If we get lost in thought and are inattentive, we stumble. If we are not properly secured and fall, we die. It’s that easy in the mountains. But the bottom line is that dangers and opportunities at heights are more clearly discernible than in our everyday lives, as they take place in countless shades of grey on the ground.