This month we remain with our previous theme “Painting”. Till now, it is clear that painting is just one means of expression. However, worlds of differences, worlds of debate (if we are given to an active mind), worlds of philosophy and worlds of psychology arise when we pose these questions about the nature of painting as a means of expression: What is the subject matter of expression? What is the need to express it? And with what consciousness does an artist attempt the expression?
For those of us who believe that the highest in ourselves is the one thing worth seeking, as the highest around us, then it pays to take up one form of expression or the other and involve ourselves in a lifetime of discovery and if at all, some closeness to ‘spiritual mastery’ and its expression in our day to day life via any media of expression. What is this spiritual quality that an artist should aim to have imbibed and represented in and have exuding from his work of art? The expectation is exacting. BEAUTY. Nothing less than BEAUTY. What then is this ‘Beauty’? Let us contemplate awhile on The Mother’s words on Beauty and Art:
“Beauty is the special divine Manifestation in the physical as Truth is in the mind, Love in the heart, Power in the vital. Supramental beauty is the highest divine beauty manifesting in Matter.”
This beauty “does not get its full power except when it is surrendered to the Divine”. And true art, The Mother says, is
“the expression of beauty in the material world. In a world wholly converted, that is to say, expressing integrally the divine reality, art must serve as the revealer and teacher of this divine beauty in life”. not g Beauty does not get its full power except when it We proceed with exploring the world of painting by moving in closer to the lives led by sadhaks who aspired for the highest and attempted to live that high life by simply following their inner Guide. The present June issue focuses on Huta and the subsequent issue, on Champaklal as sadhaks who took to the brush as a means of progressing in their inner realms, and those above and that too with direct guidance from The Mother herself.
When reading Huta’s books such as ‘The story of a soul’ and ‘Mother you said so’, one is immediately drawn into the beautiful life that she lived, albeit with her own lot of painful struggles to combat and overcome. Nevertheless, it was a life offered to the Divine, and therefore beautiful. Here is something from Huta herself describing the moment when she first looked upon The Mother: “Our eyes were locked in utter silence. It was as if our souls embraced. So deep, so intimate was our meeting that I realized instantly that here was the ONE I had been seeking since childhood, the ONE who could help me, that here was SHE who could release me from the dreadful confusion in which I had been struggling all those years. Then my inner being murmured, “Yes, this is the TRUTH and LOVE I have been seeking and aspiring for.” Her sparkling eyes and sweet smile captured my entire self…. Now my soul was at rest – it had finally found its home.”
And thus began Huta’s journey with The Mother in this life, one high point of it being an instrument of The Mother in giving artistic expression on canvas to the immortal lines from ‘Savitri’, into what is now known as ‘Meditations on Savitri’
Turn the pages for more…..
No comments:
Post a Comment