Month: December 2017

At the risk of alienating those who deny the existence of God or those who just have serious doubts about the existence of a being who created all of this, I’m nonetheless doing this piece about spirituality. I respect those who don’t agree with my views on religion. I’d better, considering my own set of beliefs probably place me heavily in the minority on such matters. I would like to think we can agree there’s more to this animate existence than its gross physical nature, but to those who would accuse me of magical thinking, I plead guilty and hope there is common ground on how the arts can elevate us to more profound states of mind and emotional euphoria.

Participating in the arts by passive or active roles can give us great pleasure, insights and inspiration. When I have to do a task that I have not surrendered to or appreciated for its intrinsic value in the moment, such as washing dishes, I like to put on some lively music that might energize me. When I’m feeling anxious or unpleasant in any emotional way, I’m inclined to watch a good comedy that can make me laugh out loud. Even if you are a cynical sort, you should be able to recognize that these art forms are capable of bringing about a transformation of mental energy from negative to positive. They lift your spirits, one might say.

So, one being entertained by the arts can take part in them by simply experiencing them. There’s nothing wrong with that. I would be shocked if there’s a musician or writer or any kind of artiste that doesn’t enjoy the aesthetic work of others from time to time. Even the most unkind critics admit to being deeply affected occasionally by the creations of those for whom they dip their poison pens. The portal to which I refer in this blog headline is available to all lovers of artistic work. I do believe, however, the greatest potential for a spiritual connection comes to those who actively practice their chosen labor of love.

One of the most obvious connections is found in the world of music where singers chant their way to a blissful state. I have attended Self Realization Fellowship services where a song is chanted repeatedly to bring about a sense of union with God. Peace and love are easily generated with these chants, and as Elvis Costello sang, “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?” The mantra is related to this use of sound to open the portal, so to speak. Encyclopaedia Britannica’s website entry on Buddhist and Hindu mantra describes it succinctly. “In Hinduism and Buddhism, a sacred utterance (syllable, word, or verse) that is considered to possess mystical or spiritual efficacy. Various mantras are either spoken aloud or merely sounded internally in one’s thoughts, and they are either repeated continuously for some time or just sounded once. Most mantras are without any apparent verbal meaning, but they are thought to have a profound underlying significance and are in effect distillations of spiritual wisdom. Thus, repetition of or meditation on a particular mantra can induce a trancelike state in the participant and can lead him to a higher level of spiritual awareness.”

The point of these activities is to at least bring us to the here and now. This is where the portal can be found. One of my favorite quotes on this subject is from Eckhart Tolle’s Practicing the Power of Now. “When you surrender to what is and so become fully present, the past ceases to have any power. The realm of Being, which had been obscured by the mind, then opens up. Suddenly, a great stillness arises within you., an unfathomable sense of peace. And within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love. And at the innermost core, there is the sacred, the immeasurable, That which cannot be named.”

Our creative works, arising from that innermost core, have the potential of bringing you to a connection with all of which you are a part, transcending the coarse and shallow level of existence to which we have become accustomed. There’s nothing magical about this. When you’re fully involved in the creative process, bringing something into existence from nothing, tapping into an energy source you don’t even understand, you’re reaching through the portal. I choose to believe that is the Divine. Whatever you choose to believe is up to you, but it’s truly special…beautiful…brilliant…full of love…accessible. May we use our gift of the arts to its fullest.

The world’s first novel was not The Handmaid’s Tale. Nor was it Tom Sawyer. No, it wasn’t Don Quixote. Generally considered to be the first was The Tale of Genji, penned by a Japanese noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century. That was 1000 years ago! It was over 400 years until the first novel in English would be published. The honorable Ms. Shikibu did her writing on a scroll and probably with a bronze stylus.

That first novel was a bit of a soap opera, telling of the many romances of aristocrat Genji during his life in the court of Japanese royalty. Not much has changed in that regard. Check Netflix or Hulu for a few minutes and you can find a similar theme from the days of yore. Twain once said, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” Still, the voices of these many writers through the centuries were unique. Twain himself was a classic example of that. Sage and sagacious, funny and wickedly acidic, lovable and detestable. His style seems fresh even today.

The great ones somewhere along the line provided pearls of wisdom that transcended their times. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, penned many notable quotes in Middle English. A couple we still hear are, “All good things must come to an end” and “Mercy surpasses justice.”

Authors of fiction often send their messages with subtlety not found in the brilliant treatises of Aristotle, Confucius and Voltaire. The story can make the point. Characters, in their struggles for good and evil or their search for truth versus folly, bring light and understanding to the complexities of our lives while entertaining us. My favorite writers are those who have mastered this process of conveying deeper meaning to human existence.

Obviously, there are many of these gifted wordsmiths. By using a few of them as examples, I am leaving out many who deserve to be on any short list of the greats. Nonetheless, I bravely go forth with the knowledge I slight not only them but any readers who won’t be able to believe I didn’t mention their own favorites. By no means do I suggest these are the very best authors, but their voices have indeed continued to echo down through the ages. The truth is that I haven’t even read some of the most respected writers. I present the following based on my own experience and the impact certain writers have had on my own development. In their own words, maybe you can hear their unique voices.

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”–Herman Hesse

“He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.”–F. Scott Fitzgerald

“…and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”–John Steinbeck

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”–Charles Dickens

The timeless aspect of their words demonstrate their wisdom. Remember them always.