Category: Skill

Beautiful summary of Perennial Philosophy

All spiritual teachings are about one thing - what it is to be fully and positively human - the rest is a matter of cultural clothing. RP

Students of Perennial Philosophy, the core mystical teachings that are the same in all religions and forgotten by many or most adherents, might agree that two verses from the Hindu Bhagavad Gita constitute a simple, beautiful and perfect summary of the Perennial Philosophy teachings;

“Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the

individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the

selfsame tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the

tree; the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes.

“The individual self, deluded by forgetfulness of his identity with the

divine Self, bewildered by his ego, grieves and is sad. But when he

recognizes the worshipful Lord as his own true Self, and beholds his

glory, he grieves no more.”2

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Compare these verses with the contemporary re-presentation of the Perennial Philosophy in The New Earth or Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle – different language and cultural clothing but the same message!

Inevitably the ethical implication of Perennial Philosophy is ‘ The Golden Rule –

EXAMPLES:-

BAHA’I:
“Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.” Baha’u’llah.

BUDDHISM:
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion – Dalai Lama

CHRISTIAN:
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Luke 10:25-28

ISLAM:
In his Last Sermon, the Prophet Muhammad cautioned believers: “Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.”

TAOISM:
“Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien.

see HERE for more examples.

Enjoy these – and dive deep!


Bhagavad Gita Chanted in English HERE
Text of the Bhagavad Gita in English HERE
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NB Try listening to the chanting whilst reading the text – wonderful! – transporting!
Commentary ‘The Battlefield of the Mind‘ on the Bhagavad Gita, by  Swami Nirmalananda Giri, HERE
NB Please use the SEARCH on this site to find more about Perennial Philosophy and all of the other subjects mentioned.

The art of spirit 1 – art as quintessentially spiritual experience

Antony Gormley with his 'Asian Field' made over five days in collaboration with 300 villagers in Xianxian in China
Antony Gormley with his ‘Asian Field made over five days in collaboration with 300 villagers in Xianxian in China

Art as quintessentially spiritual experience

I want to present a range of artists who mean a lot to me – in the context of a working definition of art, and the view that both the making of art and aesthetic experience are essentially one and the same as mystical experience.

Art is culturally, and personally, significant meaning, skilfully encodedin an affecting, sensuous medium.
(RP’s working definition  – after a definition by Richard Anderson quoted in Freeland (2001 p. 77))

All art is about movement of the human spirit.  Human spirit as heart-mind – ‘xin’ in Chinese.

The idea of ‘heart-mind’ for the singleness of the interiority of inner experience, as opposed to heart and mind as two mythical inner organs, which is the bifurcation of the human spirit that the Age of Reason has left us with, removes any need to argue for or against ‘conceptual art’.  Hoorayyyyy!

I can now love both art that is labelled ‘conceptual’ and that which isn’t, and with luck I get some sensuality, cultural references, significant personal meaning-making and skilfull encoding!

There are a range of reasons for suggesting that both the making of art and aesthetic experience are essentially one and the same as mystical experience. Here are three;

1) Art that really works for you takes you out of yourself – it creates a unitive experience.

2) The making of art mostly involves engagement that is beyond language and the conceptual.

3) The conceptual is stimulated by the experience but can never adequately render or re-present the creative or aesthetic experience.

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One artist that gives me ‘the full set’ – sensuality, cultural references, significant personal meaning-making and skilfull encoding and the qualities of the spiritual or mystical etc. –  is Antony Gormley.

The Asian Field (photo above) is, quite appropriately, much larger than the ‘Field’ I saw in the Tullie gallery in Carlisle.  The impact of setting eyes on all of the figures staring up at me was a force-field of heart-mind.  Reflection afterwards is endless.

His genius has developed art that is;

Transcendent

Universalist

Community generated and community-generating.

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Source and article on Asian Field HERE