Art – The Expression of Divinity
Divine Life
Society Publication: An Apostle of India’s Spiritual
Culture by Gurudev
Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj
ALL beings however low in
evolution, all actions however trivial in their nature, all things however
lifeless they may appear to be, bear the stamp of the light of the Eternal; the
principle of the Beautiful is dancing in them all; the splendor of the Truth is
shining equally in all creation—in the man toiling in the field, in the birds
of the air, in the beasts of the forest, in the blossoms of the garden, in the
waves of the sea. There is only one Law of Life that is pulsating in the veins
of the contents of the entire universe. Glory to the Divine Being.
Everyone in this beautiful
creation is a piece of art; all that we see is but the manifestation of His
art. We are His art, vivifying His might, reflecting His beauty and expressing
His grandeur. Every man has the eyes of the painter and the poet; every heart
has a dormant feeling for beauty and for the awareness of perfection. Every
speck of space is rich with the inexhaustible abundance of goodness, of
godliness, of beauty. One has to widen one’s consciousness and deepen one’s
spirit to be able to develop the vision of all spirit shining in and through
matter, all reality revealing itself in and through the unreal. To escape from
this world of limitations (while yet being on earth) into the boundless world
of Freedom and Beauty, Power and Brilliance, is the purpose of our existence.
For the one who has eyes to
see, all is goodness, all is sweetness, everything is beautiful, everything is
graceful; whatever he perceives is homogeneous and harmonious. Children of
Light! Behold the brilliance of the diamond in the darkest coal mine; look at
the luster of the eyes in the ugliest face; smell the fragrance of the lotus in
the stinking pond; feel the omnipresence of your life in the lowliest creature reveling
in filth; discover the greatness of the genius in the humblest family groveling
in poverty. To one with insight, whatever is met with will be seen to be the
master-touch of the Divine Painter, of the Master-Artist, who expresses himself
in such infinite and ineffable beauty.
Art is not for the fleeting
pleasures of the human creature nor a solace to the sorrow-stricken heart nor
yet for mere aesthetic enjoyment; it is more than all these—it is a systematic
and scientific living in Absolute Beauty, in Infinite Harmony, in Perfect
Peace, in Eternal Joy. Art is a kingdom of intense feeling, a feeling in which
one is aware of the one undivided Divine Essence of Existence. Art is majestic
and mystic, idealistic and symbolic, supernatural and transcendental, an
expression of the Unseen in and through the seen.
That art blossoms into perfection
which is free from all sense desires and physical interests. In the name of art
one should not fetter oneself in the prison of professionalism and sensualism.
The artist should be moved by the beauty of Truth; and his art should be
progressively creative and spiritually suggestive; it should be a revelation of
his moments of inspired vision and of total self surrender. In his creative
moods the artist should soar high—high into the skies of luminous imagination
and of glorious existence, wholly oblivious of all mundane madness. Purified in
heart, one should wave the magic wand of art at whose touch everything is
converted into the beauty of the Beyond.
Let the drawing rooms be
filled with the vibrations of the highest spiritual ideals which pour into us
the power and beauty of a new life of joy and peace. Let the wielder of the
brush be free from all stuff of pride and selfishness and from all that is
related to the sense-world, so that the Divine may fill him with His Will to
paint the pictures that breathe healing power and soothing balm into all
onlookers through their eyes, so that they may be relieved of their illness of
mind and sickness of heart. Let your art be a lamp of deathless beauty, shining
with effulgence dispelling the darkness of the soul that sings the sorrowful
songs of the world.
An art that panders to the
lower appetites of men, that does not aim at discovering the meaning of life,
that does not awaken the spiritual consciousness in the human heart, is
soulless and, therefore, unsalutory in its effects and malefic in its
influence. The test of true art is implied in its profoundest suggestions. True
art should embody the best of the genius of the artist, the finest in him, and
awe one into a subtler plane of refinement and thrill; all art that falls short
of this great purpose is profane and perishable.
Excerpts from:
Art-The Expression of Divinity – An Apostle of India’s Spiritual
Culture by Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji MaharajArchives - Blog
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