1
Beauty is as much an aspect of Reality as truth. He
who is insensitive to the one has not found the other. (14-1.32)
2
We must call in the services of art to give religion
its finest dress. Music must show its triumphs in the individual soul,
architecture must create the proper atmosphere for communion, painting and
sculpture must give visual assistance to the mind's upward ascension. (14-1.33)
3
Through the practice of art a man may come closer to
soul than through occultism. (14-3.8)
4
Art can take place of and be a substitute for
religion only when it is truly inspired. (14-1.146)
5
A gracious and refined style of living might be
disapproved by those of ascetic tendencies and even decried as materialistic.
But aesthetic feeling can be quite compatible with spirituality. (14-1.36)
6
When they fulfil their highest mission, painting and
sculpture try to make visible, music tries to make audible, prose literature
tries to make thinkable, poetic literature tries to make imaginable the
invisible, inaudible, unthinkable, and unimaginable mystery of pure Spirit.
Although it is true that they can never give shape to what is by its very nature
the Shapeless, it is also true that they can hint, suggest, symbolize, and point
to It. (14-1.147)
7
Judge a work of art by analysing its effect. Does it
leave you feeling better or worse, inspired or disturbed, calmed or restless,
perceptive or dulled? For every opportunity to behold great paintings or listen
to inspired music or read deeply discerning literature is itself a kind of Grace
granted to us. (14-1.34)
8
What Buddha taught about the transient, the
changing, the elusive character of all human joy is plainly true: he went
further and declared it unsatisfactory because of these reasons. Still further
and on the same grounds, he rejected the attractions of the Beautiful Form. We
are not to be ensnared by these perfections of form, that shapeliness of figure,
that stateliness of architecture, and those symmetries of pattern such as
engaged the ancient Greek artist. But the philosopher who cannot accept this
further attitude is entitled to ask, "So long as we do not permit ourselves to
be deceived into regarding them as the ultimate happiness, so long as we
acknowledge their relativity and brevity, so what if they do pass, if they have
their day? Why not enjoy them to the utmost while they are there? Why refuse an
exquisite sight or an enchanting sound if, apart from the pleasure it affords,
it might even be used as a stepping-stone to spiritual uplift?"
9
Art fulfils its highest purpose, acquires more
valuable significance, when it becomes a vehicle for spiritual beauty.
10
It is true that men learn through disappointment
and develop through suffering. But this need not cause us to forget that they
also learn and develop through joy and beauty. (14-1.62)
11
Such an inspired production gives out a form of
energy which makes those who can receive it with enough sympathy feel and see
what its creator felt and saw. There is an actual transmission. (14-2.49)
12
A work of art which awakens in its beholder or
hearer or reader a deep feeling of reverential worship or inner strength or
mental tranquillity, thereby gives him a blessing. It enables him to share the
artist's inspiration. (14-1.39)
13
There is this quality about an inspired work, that
you can come back to it again and again and discover something fresh or helpful
or beautiful or benedictory. (14-2.48)
14
Anyone who is susceptible to beauty in music or
place has a spiritual path ready-made for him. (14-1.10)
15
The inspired beauty to which a true artist
introduces the world is an aspect of the same power to which a true priest
introduces his flock. (14-1.41)
16
The writer or artist or musician who is to stir up
the intuitions in your mind must be the human receptacle of divine inspiration.
17
An art production whose form derives from
spiritual tradition or symbolism, whose content derives from spiritual
experience or understanding, is at least as worthy of veneration as a religious
relic. (14-1.148)
18
A simple environment, even an austere one, is
understandable and acceptable in the case of those who have outwardly renounced
the world, as well as of those who try to live in the world and yet be inwardly
detached from it. But an ugly environment, even a drab one, is neither
understandable nor acceptable in the case of those who profess to worship the
Spirit. For its attributes are not only Goodness and Truth, among others, but
also Beauty. To cultivate an indifferent attitude toward material possessions is
one thing, but to show an insenstiive one toward beautiful creations and to feel
no repugnance toward ugly ones is not a spiritual approach; it is
anti-spiritual. (14-1.133)
19
It is a fact that beautiful surroundings create an
atmosphere, benefit the emotional-mental state, and rest or stimulate a man
according to their nature.
20
A philosophic temperament, well-developed and
sufficiently rounded, has little taste for the ugly bareness propagated in the
name of simple living, or for the dreary denial of the beautiful arts in the
name of anti-sensuality. (14-1.42)
21
Whether it be a piece of glued furniture or a
constructed building, a piece of written prose or a flying machine, it should
serve not the functional alone nor the beautiful alone, but a blend of both
together.
22
The artist has two functions: to receive through
inspiration and to give through technique. (14-2.73)
23
The creative faculty should be cultivated and
developed as both a great aid to, and expression of, spiritual growth. (14-2.13)
24
If he succeeds in transmitting through the medium
of his work something of the inspiration he receives, be he priest or artist, he
is truly creative. (14-2.7)
25
This is creative stillness; it is also magical,
for it brings about the merging of yin and yang.
26
No artist really creates anything. All he can do
is to try to communicate to others in turn what has been communicated to him.
(14-2.6)
27
What is the final call of true art? Not to the
work which expresses it but to the spirit which inspires it, the divine source
of which it reminds us. (14-1.143)
28
If he composes, paints, sculpts, or writes as the
light within shows him the thing or thought to be depicted--not as opinion,
bias, or untruth urges him--he will be truly inspired. (14-2.47)
29
The artist may work to earn his livelihood. But if
he is also to consult his conscience, he must at the same time strive to become
a servant of the Holy Spirit. (14-1.142)
30
The artist who is infatuated with himself uses his
production to flatter and hence strengthen his ego.
31
An artistic production that is really inspired
must give joy to its creator at the time of creation equally as to its
possessor, hearer, or beholder. If it does not, then it is not
The genius is both receptive and expressive. What he gets intuitively from within he gives out again in the forms of his art or skill. (14-2.37)
32
He creates, not to express his small personality
as so many others do, but to escape from it. For it is to the divine which
transcends him, which is loftily impersonal, that he looks for inspiration.
(14-2.41)
33
Method and technique are necessary in themselves
but incomplete; inspiration and intuition should shine behind them.
34
Although technical equipment is not all there is
to the practice of art, it must be mastered. Without it, inspiration suffers
from a faulty or deficient medium.
35
In matter and manner, in content and technique, in
substance and style, the productions of the faultless artist who is only
technically competent will never equal those of the faultless artist who is also
spiritually mature. (14-2.68)
36
The philosophic search for enlightenment and the
artist's search for perfection of work can meet and unite. (14-3.58)
37
Art can be a path to spiritual enlightenment but
not to complete and lasting enlightenment. It can be born out of, and can give
birth itself to, only Glimpses. For art is a search for beauty, which by itself
is not enough. Beauty must be supported by virtue and both require wisdom to
guide them. (14-3.80)
38
When a piece of deep music or a chapter of
illumined writing puts him under a kind of spell towards the end, when the
aesthetic joy or intellectual stimulus of one or the other gives him the
sensation of being carried away, he ought to take full advantage of what has
happened by putting aside the thought of the music or book and remembering that
he is at the gate of the Overself. (14-3.69)
39
Beauty is one side of reality which attracts our
seeking and our love. But because it is so subtle and our perceptions are so
gross, we find it first in the forms of art and Nature, only last in the pure
immaterial being of the intangible reality. (14-1.45)
40
The artist must raise the cup of his vision aloft
to the gods in the high hope that they will pour into it the sweet mellow wine
of inspiration. If his star of fair fortune favours him that day, then must he
surrender his lips to the soft lure of the amber-coloured drink that sets care
a-flying and restores to the tongue the forgotten language of the soul. For
these sibylline inspirations of his come from a sky that is brighter than his
own and he cannot control it. (14-2.39)
41
The function of art is different from that of
mysticism, but both converge in the same ultimate direction. Both are
expressions of the human search for something higher than the ordinary.
(14-3.27)
42
The supremely gifted artist who works primarily
out of pure love of his art--whether it be writing, painting, or music--rather
than out of love of its rewards, sometimes approaches and arrives at this same
concept through another channel. Such a genius unconsciously throws the
plumbline of feeling into the deep mystery of his being. He is lifted beyond his
ordinary self at his most inspired moments. He feels that he is floating in a
deeper element. He receives intimations of the pure timeless reality of Mind
whose beauty, he now discovers, his best works have vainly sought to adumbrate.
The flash of insight is granted him, although if he is only an artist and not
also a philosopher he may not know how to retain it. (14-2.43)
43
The creative artist is taken out of himself for a
time and is serenely elevated, just as the meditative mystic is. But the two
states, although psychologically similar, are not spiritually similar. For the
mystic enters his elevated state consciously and deliberately goes in quest of
his inner being or soul. He uses it as a springboard to escape from the world of
space time and change. The artist, however, uses it as a means of creating
something in the world of space time and change. Hence although art
approaches quite close to mysticism, it has not the same divine possibilities,
for it lacks the higher values, the moral disciplines, and the super-sensuous
aims of mysticism. (14-3.20)
44
The artist uses a medium outside himself to
effect his own personal approach to the ecstatic state of ideal beauty as well
as to inspire the appreciators of his artistic production. The mystic uses no
external medium whatever, but makes his approach to the source he finds
inside himself. Although the mystic, if he be blessed with intellectual
talents or artistic gifts, can project his ecstatic experience into an
intellectual or artistic production when he chooses, he is not obliged to do so.
He has this internal method of transmitting his experience to others through
mental telepathy. Hence mysticism is on a higher level than art. Nevertheless,
art, being much easier for most people to comprehend and appreciate, necessarily
makes the wider appeal and reaches hundreds of thousands where mysticism reaches
only a few. (14-3.12)
45
The artist's productions may be most inspired; he
may glorify art and put it on a pinnacle as the noblest and loftiest human
activity when at its best. But it is still a manifestation of man's ego, the
finest and final one. He must transcend it in the end. Like yoga, it prepares
the way, is a step not a stop. (14-3.75)
46
Whoever accepts the higher mission of art and
comes nearer and nearer to it through his creative activity, will then go on
from art to the Spirit deep within his own self. (14-1.154)
47
A mind caught up with spiritually significant
meanings, or attentively held by highly beautiful sounds, is a mind that one day
will respond to Truth. (14-1.44)
48
It is a rare moment when he looks upon Beauty
itself rather than upon the forms of Beauty. (14-3.71)
49
It is a common mistake among artists and writers
to regard inflammation as inspiration, and to take inflamed feelings for
inspired revealings. (14-1.193)
50
The human being is played upon by various
influences at various stages of his life in the body. We all know what climate
and music will do to create different moods, but one factor often not understood
or neglected is the influence of colour. It is always there in our surroundings,
in a room, apartment, or house, in our clothing and in our furnishings. It can
contribute towards health or take away from it; it can cheer or depress the
emotions; it can invigorate or devitalize the body; it can give pleasure to the
eyes or irritate them. Red, for instance, colour of the planet Mars and
associated in astrology with war and anger, can be stimulating and life-giving
if it is in its pure clear form. But in its undesirable darkish shades, it
simply stimulates the lower desires, the animal feelings. However, it is a warm
colour and for those who are old in years and in whom the circulation of blood
is poor, the presence of pure red in the decorations and furnishings will help
to keep them warmer. Orange will give the beneficial side of red and less of its
negative side. Yellow is the colour of reason and helps to lift a man above his
lower desires. In its pure golden sun-coloured phase, it is the colour of
spiritual attainment, of the master who has achieved rulership over his emotions
and body and passions. Green, which is Nature's colour, is restful, soothing,
cheerful, and health-giving. The pure azure blue of Italian skies is associated
by astrology with the planet Venus, the star of art, beauty, and sympathy
verging almost on love. In its purest form it denotes devotional love, spiritual
aspiration. It is not enough to know the meaning of colours; one must also know
two other things about them: first, how to blend different colours and second,
how to contrast them. (14-1.126)
51
The notion that the effects of inspiration should
not be handled by the labours of revision is a wrong one. This is so, first,
because few artists ever achieve a total purity of inspiration--however ecstatic
their creative experience may be--and second, because even if achieved it is
still limited by the personal nature of the channel through which it flows. The
writer who refuses to touch manuscripts again or to correct proofs displays
vanity or ignorance or both. (14-4.8)
52
I shall never forget the wonderful message which
Ramana Maharshi sent me by the lips of an Indian friend (he never wrote
letters). It was some years before his death and my friend was visiting the
ashram preparatory to a visit to the West, whither he was being sent on a
mission by his government. I had long been estranged from the ashram management,
and there seemed no likelihood of my ever seeing the saint again. The visitor
mentioned to the Maharishee that he intended to meet me: was there any
communication of which he could be the bearer? "Yes," said the Maharishee, "When
heart speaks to heart, what is there to say?" Now I don't know if he was aware
of Beethoven's existence in the distant world of Western music, but I am certain
he could not have known that the dedication to the Missa Solemnis was
"May heart speak to heart." This is a work whose infrequent performance stirs me
to depths when I hear it, so reverential, so supernal is it. Few know that
Beethoven himself regarded the Missa as his greatest composition. It must
surely be his most spiritual composition, a perfect expression of the link
between man and God. (14-4.333)
53
Of all the arts which minister to the enjoyment of
man, music is the loftiest. It provides him with the satisfaction which brings
him nearer to truth than any other art. Such is its mysterious power that it
speaks a language which is universally acknowledged throughout the world and
amongst every class of people; it stirs the primitive savage no less than the
cultured man of the twentieth century. When we try to understand this peculiar
power which resides in music, we find that it is the most transient of all the
others. The sounds which delight our ears have appeared suddenly out of the
absolute silence which envelops the world and they disappear almost
instantaneously into that same silence. Music seems to carry with it something
of the divine power which inheres in that great silence, so that it is really an
ambassador sent by the Supreme Reality to remind wandering mortals of their real
home. The aspirant for truth will therefore love and enjoy music, but he must
take care that it is the right kind of music--the kind that will elevate and
exalt his heart rather than degrade and jar it. (14-4.297)
54
Art is not only here to embellish human existence.
It is also here to express divine existence. In good concert music, especially,
a man may find the most exalted refuge from the drab realism of his prosaic
everyday life. For such music alone can express the ethereal feelings, the
divine stirrings and echoes which have been suppressed by mundane extroversion.
The third movement of Beethoven's Quartet in A minor, for instance, possesses a
genuine mystical fervour. He may derive for a few minutes from hearing its long,
slow strains a grave reverence, a timeless patience, a deep humility, an utter
resignation and withdrawnness from the turmoil of the everyday world. (14-4.338)
55
Music can express the mystical experience better
than language; it can tell of its mystery, joy, sadness, and peace far better
than words can utter. The fatigued intellect finds a tonic and
56
Music like any of the intellectual arts may help
or hinder this Quest. When it is extremely sensual or disruptive or noisy, it is
a hindrance and perhaps even a danger. When it is uplifting or inspiring or
spiritually soothing, it is a help. (14-4.305)
57
The spiritual author who conforms to his own
teachings, who is as careful of his ethics, motives, actions, and thoughts as he
is of his style, is a rare creature. There is not less posing to a public
audience in the world of religio-mysticism than there is in the world of
politics. The completely sincere may write down their experiences or their ideas
for the benefit of others, but they are more likely to do so for posterity
rather than for their own era. Their most inspired work is published after their
death, not before it. The half-sincere and the completely insincere feel the
need of playing out their roles during life, for the ego's vanity, ambition, or
acquisitiveness must be gratified. The half-sincere seldom suspect their own
motives; the insincere know their own too well. (14-4.152)
58
The writer who engages the reader's mind and
invites it to think renders an intellectual service. But the writer who incites
it to intuit renders a spiritual one. (14-4.147)
59
Wisdom is all the better when it is likewise
witty. Raise a laugh while you lift a man. Mix some humour with your ink and you
shall write all the better. Sound sense loses nothing of its soundness when it
is poured into bright, good-humoured phrases. Truth is often cold-blooded and a
bath in warm smiles makes it all the more attractive. (14-4.5)
60
There are phrases in the New Testament which must
impress the mind of every sensitive person. These phrases embody truths but they
embody them in language which carries added authority derived from the style. I
refer to the King James version, the translation into English made in the
seventeenth century and today replaced by several modern versions in plain
everyday twentieth-century English. It is true that in the modern ones the
ordinary person gets a clearer notion of the meaning and, therefore, for him the
modern translation is undoubtedly more useful. But I wrote of the sensitive
person. For him not only is the meaning clear enough in the old version, but the
style, with its beauty and authority, makes the statements even weightier.
(14-4.148)
61
Refined and gracious living is an expression of
refined taste. It does not necessarily need great wealth to support it, for even
within a modest income it can still be expressed in a modest way. A few plants,
soft lights, fine porcelain, pleasantly patterned carpet, brightly coloured
pictures, and a minimum of decorative furniture will give a man comfort and
beauty. (14-1.119)
62
A creative work of music, pictorial art, or
literature which kindles an inspired mood in the audience, the beholder, or the
reader has justified itself. It has made a contribution to humanity not less
valuable on its own different plane as that which is made by the engineer or the
builder. (14-1.28)
63
Even the highest art is only a means to an end--it
ought not to be made an end in itself. The inspired artist must in the end put
aside his theme, his medium, his work and turn to the Divine alone, not to its
expressions down here. (14-3.21)
64
It is not only the workers in art who may get
carried away by their concentration, but also the laymen who become the
recipients of their productions and put themselves under their charm with a
similar degree of concentration. In both cases--in the artist who creates and
the layman who contemplates--there is an approach to the borderline of yoga. If
it is pure beauty which calls forth their adoration and not some lesser thing,
they may indeed cross this borderline and find themselves in a yogic state. What
is said here of art is true also of the impulses derived from Nature. If man
would only take such moods more seriously and rise to the highest level towards
which the mood can carry them, they may well return to ordinary consciousness if
not with a glimpse then with the next best thing to a glimpse. (14-3.23)