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...