Religion and Art
In order that every possibility may be realized, it is necessary that the Infinite must manifest itself within limited frameworks; this is the explanation for the existence of creation, and also of evil as we have demonstrated. It also occurs that at particular times, the Absolute reveals itself directly to man within a formal framework, and this is what is commonly known as revelation. Each revelation is essentially the expression of the Absolute at its own level of reality, and therefore, for those who are able to perceive its essence, religious forms are a gateway to Divine knowledge. On the other hand there are those who do not possess the intellectual capacity, at least in their current state of being, to access this knowledge. The former recognize that there is no division between the different religious forms, because a form, due to its limitations, can never be absolutely unique, the latter on the other hand, must necessarily take the dogmatic character of scriptures literally, and this dogmatic character is in fact a mark of the essence of religions in that the Absolute must always express itself in Absolute terms despite the limitations implied by form. It is the mark of a true religion that it will always give to a man everything that he requires to realize his full potential in his state of being, and this is why in a civilization in which revelation is the life-blood, common men do not feel resentment towards their betters, for they are satisfied by their place in the natural hierarchy of human existence. It is only when pure knowledge withdraws from the heart of a civilization, that social ruptures can begin to occur, and we need not go into detail here about the consequences of this phenomenon as it affects the modern world.
One religion that may be called into question here is Hinduism, which does not seem to conform to the statements we have just made. We can only say here that this is because it is the most ancient religion that still lives at the current time, and as such was destined for a people whose mental conditions were such that it was not necessary for the Absolute to ‘clothe’ itself in envelopes which are impenetrable except for those whom are destined for metaphysical knowledge. The mental conditions of the peoples who were the receivers of more recent revelations were such that a direct formulation of metaphysical knowledge would have been confusing and distracting, these more passionate and less contemplative people required a spirituality that appealed to the passions, although still possessing the essential content that binds all the religions together as a unicity. This leads to a distinction between the esoteric and the exoteric, the former is the essential content of the scriptures, and the latter is its outward form which is comprehensible to all. In the Islamic civilization esotericism has always been guarded by the Sufis, who in this way correspond to the Brahmins of Hinduism, unfortunately it was never protected in this way in the Christian religion, and as such the gradual disappearance of intellectual knowledge in the Christian religion over the last millennia has allowed it to succumb to the decadence of the modern age. That is not to say that pure intelligence has ceased to exist in the formal language of the Church and in the scriptures, these can still serve as spiritual supports for anyone qualified for metaphysical knowledge, although we would make a reservation here for the Protestant denominations many of which see fit to tear down the exalted traditions of Christianity for pure human reasons, needless to say this is not justifiable from a traditional point of view, which always has supra-human wisdom as its basis.
Each religious world is the perfection of manifestation formulated according to the mental conditions of a particular people. As such the formal language creates an ambience in which the Divine Spirit is constantly present. The essentially supra-individual origin of this formal language means that it can be maintained without any effort. Its beauty is self-evident to all those who live within that civilization because it is formulated according to their needs and thus reveals to them the nature of reality to the extent that they are capable of understanding it. This is why in the creation of a work of traditional art; the creator must attempt to cleanse himself of his ego completely, so that the Spirit may manifest itself in the symbol that he creates. This is in stark contrast to the modern view of art, in which the originality of the individual in always placed before the objective quality of his work. Unable to reproduce the symbolic perfection of traditional works of art, artists have been led first into the realm of grotesquely passional and humanistic art, and spiraled downward into sheer ugliness and chaos which only the most corrupted soul could take pleasure in. As we have shown already, there is nothing arbitrary in the science of forms and aesthetics, but this scientific aspect of art has disappeared in modern times, along with its beauty. It is also significant that in modern times art, much like religion, is rigidly separated from the rest of a person’s life, enjoyed as a mere luxury. In a traditional civilization any act of creation which was not conducted as an art would be condemned, because spirituality is always more important than practicality on a physical level. It is due to modern man’s inability to perceive the significance of forms and their influence on his consciousness that he fails to realize how damaging it can be to live in a world of ugliness as all those who dwell in the urban landscape do. Who could possibly be surrounded by evil, for this is essentially synonymous with ugliness, and possess any degree of lasting happiness? Modern man has indeed, constructed a hellish landscape which he endures without understanding the toll his own actions take upon his soul.
Apart from the formal language that religion produces and maintains, it also possesses the aspect of a path by which man may be led back, or inward, to God. This path is, like the formal structure, formulated according to the needs of the people for whom it is destined. Thus a religion destined for the volitive people of the Western world will place a greater emphasis on action than contemplation, although it could never discard the latter, pure knowledge being the essence of every religion. The different paths are most accurately rendered in the Hindu world as the four castes; they are Brahmins (Roughly corresponding to the priestly function), Kshatriyas (Nobility), Vaishya (merchants), Shudra (Labour). There are then also two types which are excluded from society altogether, the first are monks, who are ‘above’ the caste system, the second are the ‘untouchables’ in the Hindu civilization, who for some reason or another are ‘below’ the caste system. The four societal functions have been present in more or less rigid ways in all of the traditional civilizations, because they correspond to the actual nature of people; each of the religions provides people with a way to sanctify their duties. For the Brahmin spiritual truth is ever present, for the Kshatriya every action reflects the Divine order, for the Vaishya their craft is a reflection of the creative act, for the Shudra their work is the sustenance of civilization. Within each religious framework these duties can be carried out within God’s presence, they perfect and deliver the man.