Art, Spirituality, and Life

    Which one is this: art, spirit, or life?
- the Divine within the ordinary -    

   Or this?   
We tend to think of art, spirituality, and life as three separate domains, with rules and constructs that govern each. Yet, these three are only divided when we look at them from the outside in, in terms of the content they represent and the forms they display. When we look at the outer form of a work of art, the outer practice or name of a spiritual path, or the outer shape of a life, we imagine that we are having three different conversations about three different things.

This is only a matter of perspective, however. For when we look not at form but at the inner process by which each comes into being, we find that art, spirituality, and life all come from the same source. They are all avenues of exploration and expression that seek channels from the inner to the outer, from the invisible to the visible, and from the un-named to the named.

In the truest sense, we are all artists and we are all mystics. Our art emanates from the desire to express our deepest being as it arises into awareness in a steady flow of consciousness. Our life and our spirituality emanate as part of the same process.

Each person who discovers this source within themselves has something to say, something to create in the way of art, and something to share and live by as a spiritual principle. There is no one who is poor in this respect. All are complete at the level of inner being. Only the links to access this level need to be forged anew so that the well of life, spirit, and creativity can be born and find its home within time and space.

Those who feel that they are not 'artistic' are emphasizing the form aspect of creativity rather than the process aspect. Yet, the form aspect is the less important of the two, for it can be learned, unlearned, adapted, or let go of altogether in favor of the creation of a new form. The process, on the other hand, is given. It is a deep flow that comes from the inner being that pushes its way forward with the desire to express the beauty and truth that each self carries. Even when the outer self believes that only others carry this sense of beauty, this is never true. Each created being comes from the source of beauty, and therefore each has something uniquely beautiful to share.

Life, too, can become a work of art, and each gesture within life an expression of the impulse to create, a witness to the Divine. This is the highest form of art, not only to contain Creation within a vessel that has a name, and a place, and a time of construction or authorship. The highest form is to fully send the creative impulse from deep within the self into one's life, allowing it to shape, and create, and expand endlessly as the fulfillment of the prophecy of who one is.


Photos: Claude Renault - Women and Saris.

Spices - Kolkata - West Bengal