Beauty in Traditional Arts - Sarah Magalhães
Revelation and the function of Beauty in Traditional Arts
By Sarah Magalhães
Today we will becontemplating on Traditional Arts.
To awaken the sense of beauty, I have selected a few passages from Art From the Sacred to the Profane: East and West, writings of Frithjof Schuon, edited by Catherine Schuon and extracts from the chapter: The
Degrees of Art in Esoterism as a Principal and as a Way.
I propose to elucidate the function of revelation in the artistic process of a practitioner
of traditional arts and to answer some important questions related to the role of art
and Beauty in human life as receptacles of Truth. To express the ideas discussed through a visual medium, a traditional Bharat Natyam dance performance will follow at the end of this presentation.
? What is the most effective way to communicate Beauty, the vehicle of saving Truth?
? What is the most appropriate way to convey the metaphysical nature of things through the beauty of forms?
? How can we provoke the same state of contemplativeness in the other by realizing a
“contemplative disinterestedness” in the act of creation ?
? How can traditional art become an "upaya", a "provisional means" to convey metaphysical truths ?
These questions are relevant for any field of traditional arts. There are many aspects of
sacred expressions such as writing, recitation, calligraphy, painting, architecture, sculpture, clothing, pottery, dance, music… My experience, in particular, refers to the sense of the sacred in the art of gesture and sacred dance. However, the practitioner of any field of traditional art and the appreciators of art will find resonance with the ideas discussed here.
Introduction:
Traditional art
proposes in its mode of operation an homogeneous worldview, being an integral expression of the social,
religious, ethical, practical and spiritual dimensions of existence. Thus, this
kind of art is a natural expression of life. It has the power to hold together
several streams of a specific culture and to express its true values. In our
present times we no longer have the traditional framework of existence, but
still the blessings transmitted by tradition allows the serious seeker in the
field of art to experience its essence.
Art, conceived in a traditional way, encompasses all aspects of life, expressing
higher values, revealing truth and metaphysical wisdom. In this context, art
assumes a very different role from the superficial modern approach in which art
is considered mere entertainment or just merchandise. On the other hand, the
traditional approach to art is that of a metaphysical and religious phenomenon,
which is intrinsically connected with Revelation. Art is thus, none other than
a channel for revelation of the sacred content of a particular religion. Being
rooted on symbols provided by
Revelation, traditional arts has a
function related to esoterism as it reveals the metaphysical and mystical
meanings inherent in the cannons established by tradition. Thus, the creative
process is an experience connecting
earthly existence with transcendence; encompassing man’s personality as a whole
in which the Unified Reality beyond forms, once realized in depth becomes gnosis, where intellection
meets Revelation.
As in the
medieval conception: "Ars sine scientia nihil est”, which means that the
practice of art without knowledge is nothing, establishes that the creative
process must be rooted in knowledge, reason and established principles. The
creative activity must be guided by three principles: intuition of metaphysical
realities, understanding by which the intellect grasps the universal symbolism
and “sciencia”, the skill necessary to realize the work. Thus, this
kind of art requires discrimination, rigor of practice and dedication to
tradition, as it includes specific knowledge and definite principles to be
mastered. Likewise one acquires a skill of realizing the union of the knower
with what he knows, which allows, spontaneously, the activity of creation to
happen.
The artist has to
surpass himself through the mastery of the artform in its aspect of
contemplation and action. Art becomes an exercise of purifying the mind by the
contemplation of divine models, leading the mind back to its original Reality.
In this process
the artist realizes his own essence, or what he should be or become, expressing
his ultimate purpose in life. Creation is thus a sacrament as says
Coomaraswamy; a necessity of life and its mission is to express, through
beautiful forms, spiritual values, whether these are cosmic aspects, saving
truths or liberating beauty.
I quote Schuon:
“Sacred art is
first of all the visible and audible form of Revelation and then also its
indispensable liturgical vesture. The form must be an adequate expression of
its content; in no case should it contradict it, it cannot be abandoned to the
arbitrary decisions of individuals, to their ignorance and their passions.”
“No art in itself
is a human creation; but sacred art has this particularity, that its essential
content is a revelation, that it manifests a properly sacramental form of heavenly
reality, such as the icon of the Virgin and Child, painted by an angel… or such
as the statue of Shiva dancing or the painted or carved images of the Buddhas,
Bodhisattvas, and Taras.”
Avalokiteshvara, bodhisattva of Mercy, Nepal, c. 12th century
In this iconographic image, we can note that the
weight of the body of the bodhisattva is
slightly moved to the left leg allowing the right foot to be lifted up over the
ground, suggesting the possibility of liberating oneself from the samsarik
earthly existence.
What is the most
effective way to communicate Beauty, the vehicle of saving Truth?
Beauty is a
direct expression of Truth. In order to restore the fall inherent in existence
and to convey the saving Truth, the
contemplation of aesthetic expressions manifesting celestial intentions is
indeed an effective way to awaken the sense of divine Beauty. Thus, the true purpose of art is to become a support for the contemplation
of God. Consequently, the beauty expressed in the artwork is above all that of
the soul of the artist, alchemically transformed by the creative process, and
finally exteriorized in his work.
Any beauty has
three aspects in all: truth, goodness and bliss, as shown in the Hindu formula:
Satyam Shivam Sundaram. The worth of the
work of art will reflect the qualities of truth, beauty and goodness of God’s
creation. Something universal which can be felt by the heart, which has a
meaning, but is not understood by reason alone. The aesthetic influence which
emanates from such artwork conforming to truth, beauty and goodness provokes a
contemplative state of mind as it reverberates in the heart like the
remembrance of our origin.
The beauties of
this world can exteriorize the soul attracting to its objects of perception.
However, there is a possibility of appreciating an external object as a means
of spiritualizing beauty. This is the mystery of
“Exteriorization in view of Interiorization” as thought by Schuon, in
which the sensible beauty, which would
exteriorize the soul, becomes a spiritual access to the heart by the attraction of the inward pole, or
God’s grace.
Far from this perspective, is the
aesthetic pleasure that emanates from most of the modern and profane artwork,
which is a kind of forgetting of the stress of life in an irreverent way. Such
creations are often inspired by the subconsciousness of the artist. This free
inspiration being disconnected from the quest of truth, only expresses the
psychological states of mind of the artist, revealing the narrow scope of his
individuality.
I quote Schuon:
“Sacred art is
made as a vehicle for spiritual presences, it is made at one and the same time
for God, for angels, and for man; profane art on the other hand exists only for
man and by that very fact betrays him.”
On the other
hand, in the light of the Philosophia Perennis, the understanding of a
traditional artwork becomes a path to reveal the mysteries of the Universe, the
universality of existence. We come back
to the land of the spirit and to divine Beauty.
I quote Schuon:
“It is the
spiritual element or the connection with what transcends the element of beauty
in the world, that reveals the roots of beauty itself. Beauty as uncreated,
before manifestation is Divine Beauty and this is the root of manifested
beauty.”
“It is important
to understand, first of all, that the purpose of art is not a priori to induce
aesthetic emotions, but to transmit, together with these, a more or less direct
spiritual message, and thus suggestions emanating from, and leading back to, the
liberating truth.”
Qutab Minar minaret or the "Victory
Tower" 1199-1220, Delhi, India
The ascending
motion of forms in sacred architecture reminds us of our final destination.
What is the most
appropriate way to convey the metaphysical nature of things through the beauty
of forms?
Traditional art
must have a purpose, it must serve the needs of our material and spiritual
existence. Dealing directly with the sacred, traditional arts is a powerful means to actualize the
recollection of spiritual realities through the liberating grace inherent in
the exactness of forms, leading thus as
Schuon mentions, to an “integral aesthetics which reveals not only the beauty
that can be sensed, but also the spiritual foundations of this beauty”. Thus, the sense of the beautiful comes from aesthetic discrimination, that is
to say from the understanding of forms. This awareness of forms is directly
related to discrimination of Reality. However, one must have a purified heart
to access the intuition of essences and to express it; the same is required
from the appreciator of such kind of art.
The beauty sensed
coming from an artwork, must in some way awaken the recollection of our
originary state of perfection, something which reminds us of the state of
harmony, completeness, expansion and goodness. In this sense, the function of
traditional art is to awaken the sense of the sacred through the correct form,
revealing the esoterism of its symbols
and becoming thus, a powerful means to reveal the consciousness of theophanies.
I quote Schuon on
this topic:
“When we relate
beauty to its transcendental and metaphysical plane, beauty has the role of a
spiritual awareness in connection with contemplation and internalizing
remembrance of the Divine.”
Detail of a panel in Kailash Temple
Ellora, 756 – 773 C.E. Maharashtra, India
Woman is the
prototype of earthly beauty par excellence. As her essence in the metacosm, she
manifests the overflowing qualities of abundance, goodness and generosity. The
transparency in this carved image challenges the nature of stone, which is
transmuted into a fine tissue, suggesting the delicacy of femininity.
How can we
provoke the same state of contemplativeness in the other by realizing a
“contemplative disinterestedness” in the act of creation ?
Understanding and
relating the spiritual life to the artistic process, the artist becomes an
instrument, a universal receptacle for the divine breath. As he consecrates
himself to his art, he becomes a Kala-Yogi , “a yogi of art” or a manifestation
of the un-manifest; void of himself, he contemplates and expresses the wide
scope of Reality through beautiful forms. Contemplation and activity are two
natural aspects of life. Contemplation or wonder of life, enables the soul to
rest in its transcendental nature. As the real nature of man is his godlike
essence, this natural process of rest enables one to retreat from the world and
to contemplate the Self. Through contemplation, the intellect reveals symbols
which illuminate his creation. Like a reflection on a mirror, the creative
power of Reality acts and creates through him.
In this process, contemplation and action becomes a unique reality that
enables the artist to forget his empirical “I” and act as pure substance;
fashioning the artwork as he fashions himself.
Emptied of everything, he becomes the spiritual content which is pure
ananda, bliss. The result of this
process has the power of efficiently transmitting ananda, the joy of existence; deeply touching
those to whom the work is addressed, as ananda is the substratum of Reality,
encompassing all. Here lies, the secret
of effectiveness of spiritual influences, conveyed through realization of the
Self, by a means of an intelligible work
of art.
I quote Schuon:
“There is
something in our intelligence which wants to live in repose, something in which
the conscious and the unconscious meet in a kind of passive activity, and it is
to this element that the lofty and easy language of art addresses itself. The
language is lofty because of the spiritual symbolism of its forms and the
nobility of its style; it is easy because of the aesthetic mode of
assimilation.”
Detail of the
Buddhist Temple of the Emerald Buddha Wat Phra Kaew, 1783
on the grounds of
the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand
The musicality of
the golden details of the roof suggests and indicates our luminous ascension to
Heavens
How can
traditional art become an "upaya", a "provisional means" to
convey a metaphysical truth?
Upaya in Sanskrit
refers to expedient means or "skill in means". The practice of a
traditional art exposes the artist to be involved with symbols of a celestial
order which nourishes his imagination and life. One must not confuse a symbol
with a mere analogy, expression of some rational or irrational possibility of
imagination. Traditional symbols unveils the essence of archetypes and allows
the imagination to perceive the real analogy between the immaterial and the
material aspects of Reality.
To be able to
represent the ineffable, the un-manifest of a metaphysical reality by means of
the formal, the practitioners may use their own specific methods or techniques
in accordance with tradition, that fit the message to be conveyed. The exercise
of skill to which it refers, upaya or the ability to adapt one's message to the
audience, is of enormous importance.
The words
technique and art have distinct functions. Technique being understood as the
mode of producing something material by means of a specific instrument, rule and purpose, and art as the
mode of producing, presumably, the “immaterial” and never entirely foreseen
before, if we understand art as not only representing naturalistic expressions.
By observing a
work of art and analyzing what it
produces of "immaterial", one can thus distinguish what is truly art
and what is merely technique. What they express as "immaterial" or
what they contain beyond the simple material content is the "inner
vision" or the fruit of the cultivation of inwardness and this is the subtle aspect that has to be conveyed to the
appreciator. To be able to suggest and materialize the subtle aspect of
Reality, one must become it by means of absorbing the Real.
Becoming an upaya, in the sense of conveying the “imaterial” into sensible forms, traditional arts in its varied manifestations
provides a provisional means to bring
down immediate awareness of metaphysical realities beyond the mere naturalistic
aspect of things. When an artistic
expression has the power to make the subtle primordial essence of things
manifest, it enables the soul to expand out of the boundaries of worldly
existence, opening a door to perceive a deeper interpretation of life. This is
the meaning of a symbol.
Be it painting the infinitude of the blue
sky, sculpting the meditative semblance of a bodhisattva or representing the
rhythm of the ocean in a noble calligraphy,
a perfect symbol always reveals a true aspect of Reality, transcending a
mere naturalistic expression. In this
way, traditional arts becomes an upaya, a provisional means to efficiently
awaken the sense of archetypes.
I quote Schuon:
“Traditional art
derives from a creativity which combines heavenly inspiration with ethnic
genius, and which does so in the manner of a science endowed with rules and not
by way of individual improvisation. “ ars sine scientia nihil” . The work of
the artist or craftsman comprises two perfections, namely perfection of surface
and perfection of depth. At surface level, the work must be well done, in
conformity with the laws of the art and the demands of the style; in depth, it
must be able to communicate the reality which it expresses. This explains why
traditional art is related to esoterism as regard its form and to spiritual
realization as regards to its practice; for the form expresses the essence and
an understanding of the form awakens the need to transcend it with a view to
its essence or archetype. The artist in fashioning the work–the form–fashions
himself; and as the purpose of the form is to...
