Spiritual art

Defining Spiritual Art At MOFSA, we’ve engaged in deep reflection on the question: What is “aesthetic”, what does it mean? It is easy to say that it is an intricate investigation since in the minds of people, the term “spiritual” is not uniform and has many connotations. Nevertheless, for us to differ in this talk, we must concur that getting a spiritual view implies the acknowledgement of the fact that not all truths are enclosed in world’s knowledge. Not all of us will call out spiritual bases beyond the constraints of empiricism, but we do get mesmerized by the mysterious transcendental and the place where we can spiritually encounter it intensely is in art, music, and poetry.

Every individual brings with him individual views and emotions while experiencing art. Hence, the art works evoke different shades of meaning for various people. However, certain emotional responses may serve as indicators of spiritual art:However, certain emotional responses may serve as indicators of spiritual art:

1. Awe
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Compassion
5. Non-dual awareness

We’ve curated descriptions inspired by paintings that, in their distinct ways, embody spiritual art: We’ve curated descriptions inspired by paintings that, in their distinct ways, embody spiritual art:

[Description 1]: The feelings of awe are provoked by the very image flooding the viewer and engrossing him/her with the boundless depth and beauty of the painting. Vast and impenetrable at the outset, the grandeur of this force assails the mind, and as you gaze upon it, the sense of wonder overshadows the banal and charms you into discourse over the ultimate divine mysteries.

[Description 2]: Experiencing happiness doesn’t remain in the painting, but it spreads over to the whole canvas, showing tenderness and vigour. Through the use of colors and lines that simultaneously dazzle and move, the artist ensures that its spectator is filled with the overwhelming feeling of an inner glee and with the urge to remain in an eternal dance that symbolizes life itself.

[Description 3]: Manifestation of peace grant you the exquisite sense of content like the hug coming from the space itself. The serenity of the Nature is overwhelming with its stillness, reflection, and ultimately solace for the soul’s agitations amid life’s vicious whirlwinds.

[Description 4]: Every one stroke of the brush carries compassion, awaking further feelings with its indescribable sensitivity and empathy. The artist depicts this elegantly by the superb brushwork that causes the viewers to connect emotions. As a result, the process of the humans being kind and empathetic to each other is promoted.

[Description 5]: The painting reaches to the ultimate one: non-dual awareness, which is superior to the dualistic perception of self and the others. Shape borders, and they are given a chance to enter a profound region of unity and inter-connection with all being, abandoning the limits of both the individual ego.

Thus, these depictions work as springboards to the transcendental capabilities of spiritual art, enabling viewers’ minds to delve further into the eternal mysteries of the humanity and the endless world of non-tangible.

Wheatfield with Crows, Van Gogh

On contrary, the painting has been ranked as one of van Gogh’s final masterpieces, and it was believed that he had completed the work a few days before his death. This eerie portrayal that features the hostile sky, carnivorous birds, and terribly lonely road, gives it almost a dream like feel. The viewer is appended to the realm where the motion is not just happening, but it is felt thanks to such diverse strokes that detect a chaos within an order where the old and new fight for supremacy.

Sparrow crow dings the picture with another level of profundity. In the spiritual world crows above else are endowed with a significant amount of positive and negative meanings; so they represent truly a totem that surpasses the world of corporeal essence. Perhaps it is the fact that they keep going high above off the fields and along dead-end road, embedded in the artwork that invites the viewer to think about the true meaning of their existence. Are these indeed roads because they are always on the brink of ending but they catapult us elsewhere unexpectedly. To crows or not to crows? That is the question. Surrounded by crows, only one’s psychological resilience can save them from being distracted from exploring the mysteries they represent. The painting of self-contemplation kindles in people curiosity about the intangible nature of these intricate questions, and it turns to seeking the journey of self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment.

The painting might offer feelings of depression and loneliness along with the flames, but the bright sunny fields that appear even among the burning wheat are a symbol of hope and strength to fight the adversity. The presence of the wheat fields offering comfort, in the same time with the terrifying stormy sky, emphasizes that preparation for changes and rather than from deference, could be obtained from the unpredictability of the unknown, which may evoke both uncertainty and fear and yet holds the promise of growth and transformation. In the end, as the picture carries the message that although the uncertainties sneak in and undoubtedly cause restless and anxiety, it, at the same time, holds so many opportunities to seize and you may one day learn something in return.

The Sacrament of the Last Supper, Dali

It seems like it has been years now when Catholicism was my major religion and as only a first timer I got to see Salvador Dalí’s “The Last Supper”. Within a flash, I found myself in a pool of awe as the art work had moved me exceptionally and the artist impeccable skill clear. The beholder can recollect the finiteness, which is somehow deeply related to self. Through the channel of the painted sheet, the artistic masterwork evoked long-lasting sensation within underlying my soul. No wonder the ineffable of being on the site and the deep spirituality absorbing its exceptional nature is an undeniable consequence for those who find themselves in that place.

While I was absorbed in the portrayal of the Eucharist with a figure of Christ hanging over the table, as if being embraced by the almighty in equilateral force and light, awaiting them from Heaven, I experienced a subtle sense of wonder and devotion. The luminous glow in the horizon came with the shining figure of Jesus who seemed to reflect the peaceful waters beneath , they exhaled me with feelings of serenity and transcendence. His pose was so graceful, consisting of an uplifting experience that seemed to be born of earthly troubles. Consequently, I was engaged in an elevation of my spirit from rudimentary concerns so that I could have better experience extracting peace and detachment from Heavens.

As I am contemplating on it now I understand that at that particular time I underwent a certain experience which personified the purest sense of disconnectivity from everything else pertaining to the materiality of the world – it was a glimpse of eternalness where my egotism was completely abandoned and disappeared in a stable world which contained nothing more than tranquility and harmony. I was like transported out of my embodiment, absorbed into a singularity of Ho loves , embodied in his profound painting. In that sacred ground, I rediscovered the calmness, the communion – belonging – with a higher Being, an experience of the spiritual awakening which continues to resound in me even today.

The Mother of the World, Roerich

In this enthralling image, a woman whose rebirth and freedom form the symbols of plants and animals is sitting and witnessing, magnificently, the awe and the way of life around the stone throne. Beholding her hands clasped together as she bows in prayer, you see a symbility going beyond physical movement, to the invisible connection with the divine. The gazing moisture in the eyes reveals the secrets of the universe that are yet to be evinced to mankind, whereas the halos radiate immortal light, which impalpably circumscribes her and dramatically hints of His real presence.

The throne, busy with solid rocks and settled beside flowing water of life, a reminisce and recalling aspect of stability and spiritual groundedness in the presence of the ever changing tides of life. Regarding the skies, they are decorated with all the bodhisattvas, whose glittering presence can recall celestial rulers who look over the human world.

On either side there are two feminine individual, which put an emphasis on the religiosity of the West and the East. First, the figure across the painting wearing the nun habit and holding to himself a sacred book evokes the traditions of the Western religious practice; meanwhile, the second, adorned with Eastern attire and clutching to the chest (which is equivalent to fire vessels of divinity), represents both the ancient wisdom and the mystic teaching coming from the East. In the last line, all three writers highlight the nature of the divine feminine as the unifying power, which is above all the national and cultural borders, so the sphere of Goddess worship incorporates the whole human spiritual experience.

Marianne, being an individual who inquired into the essence of both traditions, will have obviously understood the portrayal of the unification of these traditions by Roerich. It is the very universalism of the inner quest, along with the imminent philosophical and religious idea that all things in universe are interconnected and interrelated that this famous book speaks about. In her ceramic sculptures Marianne aspired to manifest one with nature; generating an interconnection drawing knowledge and wisdom that stretched across globe to unite them all into an art with respect and clear vision.