Varying Hues Of Human Perception
This post is also available in: हिन्दी
Human race is diverse, so too its cultures and belief systems. Though religion is born in a particular race and nation, today it has cut across boundaries of race and nationality. Although religion has maintained its own identity, it could not remain immune to the cultural influence of host countries. It is interesting to note that what is considered blasphemy in one religion is considered a matter of pride in another. For example, in Hinduism, playing the role of prophets and saints is considered a privilege. Every year Ram Lila and Krishna Lila are played across India and innumerable people dress themselves up to play the parts of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Hanuman and others. In the Christian tradition as well, Nativity tableaus are performed and watched as a respectful tribute to Jesus. Many actors abstain from personal bad habits for the period of these roles. People even carry big crosses and retrace the steps of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem to relive the crucifixion themselves. The basic concept is that when you imitate somebody, you imbibe their qualities.
By contrast, in Islam, imitating or playing such a role is considered blasphemy and an insult to the Prophet. In fact, music, sculpture, dance and painting were banned in puritanical Islam.
“The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance.” Hadith Qudsi 19:5
“Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings….” (Musnad Ahmad & Abu Dawud Tayalisi)
Man cannot be without these expressions of art. Slowly, the influence of Hinduism gave birth to Sufism. Although it was banned in strictly orthodox Islam, music slowly found it way back into society, though the puritans object to this even today.
Interestingly, a parallel of this can be found in the Bhagwad Gita as well.
buddhya visuddhaya yukto
dhrtyatmanam niyamya ca
sabdadin visayams tyaktva
raga-dvesau vyudasya ca [Chapter 18, verse 51]
In the above verse and the few following it, Lord Krishna says that a seeker of Divinity should transcend all sensory objects like sound and sight. However, this is a practice for yogis for a period of time and not a lifestyle as such. While Hinduism, on the one hand, encourages music by calling it Naada Brahmn, on the other hand, it says that one has to transcend sound to reach Para Brahmn, the Ultimate Reality. These opposite values in Hinduism gave it a broad spectrum and they bring in a lot of tolerance.
While criticising, mimicking or accusing a politician is legal in some countries, in some others, it is an offence. The west takes pride in freedom of speech and allows people to express extreme opinions. However, in other places, such expressions can be an emotional assault on the sentiments of people. The outrage and violence that we have seen due to films like Innocence of Muslims says it all. What is appalling is that in the protests against the film, a large number of innocent muslims were killed.
In the end, it is we who attach meaning to an expression. Somewhere those who are very sensitive seem to lack sensibility and somewhere else people who are very sensible seem to lack sensitivity. What is needed is the perfect balance between sensitivity and sensibility in today’s globalised society.
This post is also available in: हिन्दी
We all come from one source and go back to the one – why waste time in trying to decipher what prohpets or saints or even gods have spoken. Your inner conscious is highest and is the best guide – go by that. Have a smile for everything you read , you see , you hear as nothing remains and yet from nothing comes everything. Don’t feed your Ego , that creates misery 🙂
Hi, I want to point out here that the Hadith Qudsi he mentioned doesnt exist. For basic information, a Hadith Qudsi means when Allah (God) is speaking. Moreover there is no 19:5 in Hadith Qudsi, they are not quran with number of verses.
As far as the issue of music is concerned diifferent Muslims scholars have different opinions on this subject as there are occassion where Prophet Muhammad PBUH let the people play music. (which shows he wasnt totally against it)
SriSri every effort that you take to synthesize this world is so appreciated. When today so many forces are doing all they can to divide people ,their is a binding factor like you who is doing his best to get everybody together and make the vision of Vasudeva Kutumbhkam (One world family) come true.
Very insightful
Lucid portrayal of cultural influences on diffe religions.. More than anything I truly admire Sri Sri commitment to bring out n present the truth in the most uncontroversial manner. Requires huge skills..
Ahmed ! do not consider this as a retaliatory reply but i have faith in the ‘higher consciousness of muslim’, that you wont take this otherwise.
Firstly it is simply a blog by Sri Sri , that is the platform expressing his views on this matter,
Secondly , this is his vast love dwelling within his heart that he is a guiding light for people from all religion because basically religion is merely n aid for walking the spiritual path. Here he doesnt mean to insult you or Islam, that is your assumption (guess somethings might have slipped from your “higher conscious” state of mind ).
Thirdly orthodox Islamist do oppose what we call as expression of love as in the sense of music, dance and other forms of art. Idol worshiping is not that we are clinging on to idol and confining our faith and love to the physical object. it is a kind of expression of our love and faith, like we play with dolls, toys. However there are a majority of our own culture astrayed from the ultimate goal of being one with all, and lost in the distorted form of the mere aid ‘religion’. But nothing like such can be generalised
Lastly, see the people beyond their expression !!
Such a complex subject explained in such simple way! Jai Guru Deva!! I like this last paragraph the most “Somewhere those who are very sensitive seem to lack sensibility and somewhere else people who are very sensible seem to lack sensitivity. What is needed is the perfect balance between sensitivity and sensibility in today’s globalised society”.
I would like to refer to the truth that Sri Sri himself has brought attention to: Truth is manifold and dynamic.. so much so that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to put into linear words.
There is absolutely no truth that is linear when taken into context of the entire creation. We can take a few examples from our limited worldly perspective: When I get selected in an interview, it is an event of celebration for me but an event of disappointment for maybe 5 others, maybe an event that would have made a difference of starvation and survival to another family…When the driver of the tow-truck leaves in the morning, he prays to god that he gets a good number of customers today. When the drivers leave home, they pray that they reach their destination safely without any untoward events on the way. God would be partial to listen to either of them, he lets the play of Karma give the results. When there is a catastrophe like an earthquake, there is so much suffering, who knows it maybe the karma that one has been born to get cleansed of, we can only aid in making it less painful. But on a much broader perspective that we cannot even fathom, it maybe with a higher purpose of cleansing or broadening of the mind, something we cannot see with our limited vision of the small well of life and earth that we are in. The whole huge universe might have plans for this small tiny earth that we cannot fathom… That is why Guruji has said if truth is spoken, it may no longer be the truth, for can we say it is good that I got the job? The answer is yes and no, it is a matter of perspective which colours the answer with a bias. It would be foolish to point out that it is right or wrong.
That does not mean we do not try to speak the truth, we can only speak the truth to the best of our knowledge. But no one can say it is not the truth precisely because it is multidimensional. The sunlight is white but it is also yellow and red and violet and all the colours… The Bhagwat Geeta recognizes this and that is why the contradiction. That is why we allow the existence of opposites because there can be a truth to everything, it is a matter of perception.
A religion of true spirituality should be one that allows the mind to expand beyond the limited and linear singular belief, showing the existence of opposites, recognizing that there are many truths, many paths, many contradictions, but all roads lead to one, allowing you to take the one that suits you best, because we are all different and different things work for different people at different stages, just like we have different foods, different habits, different clothes, different music. As long as we are happy and do not try to impose our opinion on another, as long as we do not fight like little children who say my mother is the best, we are mature and evolved and in higher consciousness. I salute the religions of the world that give this broader perspective and freedom of thought and belief to not just tolerate others but to respect, to live and to let live. That is Vasudaiva Kutumbakam and Om Shanti. Shanti, Shanti and its equivalent in other religions. This is the original intention of any wise and good person or God, but lower men and people with not so good intentions have unfortunately wiped out this common sense in many masses. May people learn to recognize this Multidimension of truth without bias!
I do not agree with sri sri ravishankar’s this statement: “when you imitate somebody, you imbibe their qualities”
Why should we imitate somebody?? Is this not an individual’s insult to say to him that you should imitate ram / krishna / any xyz person?? Each individual has birth right to become himself.. to say to him to imitate others is his explotation.
Even if i imitate others i will not be able to get any of his qualities.. on the contray i will become dull and hypocrite just like 99.999% gurus are.
I dont understand one thing,, if ram and krishna did not imitated any one (including me), why should i imitate them??
On the one hand sri sri ravishankar says that one should become authentic.. on the other hand he advocates imitating ram and krishna.. what a hypocrasy..
Every child learns by imitation. Even as adults, we are constantly looking around to build and validate our points of view. At least be authentic about that.
You aren’t very unique, your entire life experience and even your point of view is not very unique. It’s all the same material, developed by interacting with this nature, influenced by your circumstance and the company you keep.
Being authentic doesn’t mean being original.
Imitation by child of his parents is totally a different thing. Child imitates on his own.. out of his instinct… for learning the techniques of his physical survival. But when he starts imitating each and every thing, the parents should explain the child not to imitate them but to real. When the so called grown up peoples imitates ram / krishna, they dont do it out of there instinct.. they do it because of there conditioning, there hypocracy and there dullness.
And we should not look around to build and validate our points of view.. because if we do so, that will not be our points of view.. that will be again imitation of others point of view. We should make our point of view independent of others.. this is what freedom means.
And what are you talking about?? Dont you consider yourself as not unique? If we should imitate and behave like big peoples like ram and krishna, then god made a serious mistake.. he should not have created you and me. He should have created the carbon copies of ram and krishna. But no.
And true development is possible only when we do things with total freedom.. and how can I have freedom if there is some ideal to follow, to imitate??
And authentic and original are interchangeable… an original ordinary stone is far more good then a fake diamond… after all original is original and fake is fake
Jai Jagatgurudev…
in greek mythology they have LOKI the mischieveous fellow and in hindu myth there is NARAD MUNI sismilarly lord hanuman had a kinetic energy weapon i.e gada and THOR had a hammer which is also a kinetic energy weapon how we havw so common?
Moreover, blasphemy does not exist in Indian science and hence we had all sorts of thoughts, schools : dvaita, advaita, nyay, vaisheshika, yoga etc seemingly contradictory to each other but converging to the same sat-chit-anand from eagle eye consciousness.
There is a mistake which needs to be highlighted …
The verse 18.51 does not talk about “should” but what is needed, i.e a natural process, of one uniting with brahman, where one’s individual consciousness merges with the supreme. Bhagvad Gita is not an abrahamic book of DOs and DONTs but an experience which highights the mergence of one’s consciousness with the supreme and hence traversing back that wisdom infinite to the earth consciousness. Hence, sagun to nirgun. This mergence itself is blasphemous in Islam. One cannot even talk of getting rid of the name Allah, or any direction let alone merging of consciousness.
And hence, it is not a “parallel” as you have called it, but a contrary point of view in its deepest essence! Music, life, creativity are all natural to a human being. Birds chirping and natural trance of the rivers is an example supreme. But just like during examinations one forgets everything and reader merges with what is being read, totally devoted to the book, similarly samadhi is an aspect of merging with the brahman : sagun to nirgun, for music and creativity are sagun brahman!
One cannot say, Music is a part of Allah. That would be blasphemy.
Very nice article – Simple and Brilliant!
With due respect to all the religions ,
@Ahmed – you are reflecting the mindset of : I am great, I know everything and rest are fools which is the root cause of terrorism !
There are so many errors in your booklet – some have been mentioned above, will mention another one : If Bhagwad Gita was written by a soul who is Brahman incarnate and Vedas are coming, shruti, from Brahman then how can Gita be an incorrect summary ?
I would like to comment to: “Muslims are already on a higher level of consciousness. The members of Islam do not need an idol to concentrate.”
I have great respect for Islam, Prophet and Quran. It is true that the fact of formless omnipresent almighty is the truth at the level of university. But it is also true that you reach university only after passing primary and high school.
If the quoted statement in the first para of mine was true, there would have been no crime by Muslims and hence not all members of Islam are on a higher level of consciousness my dear friend. And this is the problem with Islam, it considers primary level students also as university graduates and hence the problem of terrorism, fanaticism and hatred for which Muslims are infamous for.
This articles has loaded with so many flours in it, that as I was writing a response, had to make sure I did not land up writing a small booklet. I decided to comment paragraph by paragraph and even this does not do justice to the inaccuracies.
Starting with paragraph 1, it was merely an intro to misconceptions that were follow.
Paragraph 2: Islam does encourage the mimicking of the Prophets TO THE LETTER. At the same time, Islam does not entertain capitalising on such respected and illustrious personalities for the sake of entertainment, fame, and fortune. It is hypocritical to allow a druggie or a drunkard or someone impure who promotes prostitution to say that he is doing a good thing by trying to act like a good person – I will be deeply offended if this person takes on a role of Jesus (Peace be upon him) in a movie. It is rubbish to justify a drug lord who kills children, to donate to a child charity. Islam does not entertain hypocrisy. Have respect and sincerity is what Islam demands. If there is sincerity in what writes regarding tolerance, then this Islamic Emotion is something to respect, and not attack. Yet, at the same token Sri Sri Ravi Shankar does not point out that Islam is the only religion that encourages its people to look to all the Prophets and the Pious and follow in their footsteps. Is this an article base on true understanding of Islam or is this an article based on and intelligent persons emotion void of intellect? It is the Muslim that grows the beard, not because we like it, but because those close to God Loved it. When the woman wears the scarf, it is not because she loves to wear it but only because the women of God, loved to wear it. There are some serious intellectual problems in this paragraph and is loaded with emotion rather than awareness.
Sticking to paragraph 2 and its comment on the sculptures (idols) there was a direct discussion with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, where it was asked why you need idols for worship. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar responded that he agreed that God is One and has no form that we can give to Him, but idols are used for those who have a LOWER consciousness and not for those who have a HIGHER consciousness, and there are very few who have this higher consciousness. These are his words, and not mine.
This being said, we responded to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that whoever inters into Islam does not do Idol worship. So according to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s THEORY, Muslims are already on a higher level of consciousness. The members of Islam do not need an idol to concentrate. The moment a Muslim uses an idol to concentrate (which is never), he would be out of the fold of Islam and would be in a state of spiritual and intellectual decline – i.e. moving from a higher consciousness to a lower consciousness. Idol worship in Islam is banned because the Muslim Congregation (ummah) is not allowed to slip into a declined thought of God and/or have an incorrect thought of God. Naturally, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar does not like this aspect of Islam simply because Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has no qualms in worshiping creation instead of the creator.
Paragraph 2 and 3: I am curious to know why Sri Sri Ravi Shankar quotes from the Hadith instead of the Quran? I don’t disagree with those paragraphs, but why take use a source that is a secondary book in Islam? If one would want to prove a STRONG point, it would only be correct to use sources that are based on creed. So by default, the references quoted, evidentially speaking, are week. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is in the habit of not going to the source of information, even in his own belief system. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will not use a source that does not justify his trail of emotional thought, therefore Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s spirituality is only based on emotion and not intellect. As an Example, the Veda’s are Hindu scriptures that tell you not to do idol worship, but yet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Loves to quote the Bhagwad Gita – a man written book which is an abridged version the Holy Veda’s. Why does Sri Sri Ravi Shankar not go to the Source?
I beg to differ with paragraph 5. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s statement implies that Sufism is something foreign to Islam and was imported from the Hindu’s. I have correct this thought and say it laudly – Hinduism did NOT give birth to Sufi’sm and there is no evidence of this. How can it be imported from the Hindu’s while the word is derived from the Quran, at the time of Islam’s birth, it uses the term Ihsaan? Ihsaan/tasawoof/soofism means – very loosely translated – perfecting one’s self in the path, service and obedience to God and what God loves, and NOT perfecting oneself only spirituality based on Mans thoughts and desires. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is confusing this some of the ‘Soofi-want-to-be’s’ who share their term from Suff (i.e. wool). This paragraph is really misguided paragraph.
Paragraph 7 proves my point above. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s evidence is taken from secondary sources and not primary sources and thus explains why this article is so dangerous and misguided. As explained earlier, the Bhagwad Gita is a manmade abridged version of the ‘authentic’ Veda’s
Paragraph 8: Okay, so let’s entertain Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s quote from a secondary or manmade book that incorrectly summarises the Veda’s. There is nothing wrong or new with what Lord Krishna said. It is in line with the the Prophets of God all said and did. Let’s move the discussion away from the Prophets, to the followers of the Prophets, where there are people by the dozens who are able to transcend such highs such as referred to by ‘Lord Krishna’ yet they do this – all – without idols or music. So there is a lot of catching up for the followers of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to do. The followers of the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar follow a way that has a very long road to catch up before they can even reach the stage of a simple uneducated and un spiritual Muslim. Imagine the road to travel to get to a stage of a Muslim who is aware, educated and spatially alive and also has intellectual capacity. Wow!
Paragraph 9, I am not familiar with the film that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is referring too so i cannot comment.
Paragraph 10 is an irony profound. Please note that my defence of this article is the same is correcting an incorrect thought of 1+1=11. My correction should not be seen as intolerance.
A final word of advice. Spirituality is something that even an atheist can engage in. Do not be fooled in the wonders and explorations of it, thinking that those who can tap into this fantastic new world are all correct in thought. This spiritual world is another universe on its own and has its deviant lures, too – just as in the physical world you are to fast or abstain else you will get lost – the spiritual world is the same, too. Be VERY careful on who you choose as your guide, else you WILL be lost forever!
i respect ur comments. But brushing aside a few mistakes in the blog here-and-there, i want to ask you something. What do u know about the Vedas, that you comment on it like a know-it-all. Firstly, his holiness quoted from Bhagwad gita since it easier to understand compared to the complex knowledge of the Vedas. Since people like you n me, are close to blind to such knowledge, that is why, he quoted from the Gita. Tell me, what will kindergarten children understand of Einstein’s theory? I might be a complete greenhorn when it comes to Islam, but I cant understand why can’t you tolerate when some one from another religion trying to decrypt ur religion? I mean what’s so blasphemous about that? I don’t understand why tolerance level is so low within Muslims. But any way, i apologize if I’ve hurt you’re emotions in any manner. But i just wished to be vocal after reading you’re comment.
I would like to comment to: “Muslims are already on a higher level of consciousness. The members of Islam do not need an idol to concentrate.”
I have great respect for Islam, Prophet and Quran. It is true that the fact of formless omnipresent almighty is the truth at the level of university. But it is also true that you reach university only after passing primary and high school.
If the quoted statement in the first para of mine was true, there would have been no crime by Muslims and hence not all members of Islam are on a higher level of consciousness my dear friend. And this is the problem with Islam, it considers primary level students also as university graduates and hence the problem of terrorism, fanaticism and hatred for which Muslims are infamous for.
ahmed,
Of all your long winded reply – What I found most hilarious was you terming anything other than Vedas as secondary – man made! Just as the holy Koran is termed as the word of God, but coming ultimately through a human form – the Gitas or the Vedas have come through that merged, one consciousness. There is no primary or secondary here… my dear. Got it ?
As far as the catching up of the followers – Looks like your strictly linear thing has taken a toll. Music has it’s own place and can be a great enabler to reach that transcendental state that the holy Prophet or Lord Krishna is alluding to. Hence the seeming opposite values in Hinduism that Sri Sri referred to.
Your comments to me, exemplify the dangers of half-baked knowledge and the real need of experiencing transcendental consciousness one-self!
Dude, spirituality is just living the life in the right way, how does it matter whether you go to the source or not ? Sri Sri’s message is to spread love and peace in the whole world, and thats what this article aims at, don’t take it like criticizing Islam at all, please !! He said that even Bhagwad Gita in one perception bans all such music etc. But the point is different perception, as the article title says it all.
Spread love and peace, do service for the humanity, be available for them selflessly, thats what Sri Sri’s message is ultimately, your own needs will be automatically taken care of. And that’s what the essence of all Vedas and Bhagwad Gita as well.
It’s funny to see that someone analyzed and found flaws in a piece that aims to highlight the “Varying Hues of Human Perception”. There isn’t a single line that says one is right or the other is wrong, just that there are differences.
There’s a place for everything in this world, including this detailed reply of yours. The fact that you have something to defend or attack even in this context only speaks to where you are in your evolution.
…Beliefs….or the ignorance of not knowing….through real experiencing….beyond the body mind organism….is the root cause…of all the mess…that we see in this beautiful…miraculous.. world…of which we are abusing…..
with due respect,
I m nt a hindu
I m nt a muslim
Basically i m a soul.
And I hv the power to think
abt d happenings around.
irresptv of my bodily religions..
If we learn to detach from our body even for some time, it wl help to understand everything better.
When there is a call to discard “instruments of pleasure”, all it means is that the path of pleasure cannot lead to spirituality. Some monks need to be celibate to grow spiritually. Once they transcend the bonds of sensual pleasure, then they are inconsequential. I am sure that the Prophet must have said it against those who are wasting their life on physical pleasures without caring about spiritual growth.
The difference between apes and disciple is that an ape mimics while a disciple follows his guru to imbibe the qualities. One is mimicking, the other is on-the-job-training.
the post could have used a different line of argument to make the beautiful point made in last para. Balance is important.
UNITY AND HARMONY OF BELIEFS AND FAITHS ALONE CAN SAVE THE EARTH-PLANET AND HUMANITY OVER IT …
What we believe is that Music plays a great role in the purification of Heart and Mind.. The person who are attached with music have natural bend for God and can call God easily from their heart . Their music with prayers have more appeal. They can worship God with their music.
8258249
Music and art in general or for that matter every human transaction involves one or all of the five sensations. To do away with auditory sensations and expect superiority is delusional. Well, at the most what we can practice is not to be totally identified with any of the sensations we indulge in. Be aware of them and then there will be objectivity. As a consequence;
1. relish food but don’t be a glutton.
2. listen to music but don’t get carried away by the emotions.
3. enjoy sensory pleasures but don’t get enslaved by that
4. smell a nice fragrance but don’t get intoxicated by it
5. Visual delights too pass by but don’t get trapped in its memory.
In short, be aware of sense indulgences and don’t get carried away by them.
Banning them is delusion and betrays a lack of clarity. Realisation is not dependent on willful negation of anything that occurs naturally.
Well said! Thank you.
Quran is the only soln for all our qns.. .
I usually don’t read blogs ..
When I started reading this , the only thought that came into my mind is – ohh ! Wow! It is so perfectly written ! 🙂
I think the reason behind destroying musical instruments or being away from them may be.: there is always a sad moment somewhere with someone….so it is not ideal to enjoy p any point of time in ones life as for someone else it may be a sad day. Also Musical instruments mostly are loud and create noise. So to be on safer side it is abstained. May be I am wrong but I tried to give a thought.
the prophet wanted everyone to become saint and everyone to get out of the Maya Jaal. so he restricted most of the sensory pleasure items. he didn’t want multiple views from different prophet to confuse people with lower intellect. so he prohibited all future prophets. he was greatest visionary.
“he restricted most of the sensory pleasure items” – if it were a wise advise – not restriction – there would be no so much misery about it in result. Banned things become more enticing.
“he didn’t want multiple views from different prophet to confuse people with lower intellect.” – then how to develop intellect?
Nice perception by Nishant, followed by excellent questions raised by Val.
My perception is that Guruji has taken Islam ‘as projected’ through “Hadith scriptures” that are taken to be official documents of Islam. This perception is wrong! Let me explain.
Two hundred years after the Prophet’s death, some scholars started to collect the “sayings” and “traditions” of the Prophet. The sources of these collections were mainly oral and in written forms, one or a few at a time, scattered over the vast geographical regions including the Arabian deserts and its northerly fertile Mesopotamia. Each scholars, separated by space and time, collected thousands of such sayings and traditions, then judged their authenticity by several yardsticks, the prominent being the teachings of the Quran. Less than one percent of those collections survived the scrutiny, and it is obvious what were passed onto us through these compilations are NOT exempt from further scrutiny, especially when the principal yardstick—the Quran is available to us in toto. The Quran does NOT prohibit music or instruments; the only explicit prohibitions are: pork and meat of dead-animals, wine, gambling, and fornication—among sensible things.
I wonder if Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has met the Man of Peace—famous singer, Cat Stevens. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens). After accepting Islam he auctioned all his guitars and left his high music career, no doubt under the misunderstanding that to so-called Hadith quoted by Guruji. But in 2006 he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years! Humanity expects to see Guruji speak on the same stage where Cat Stevens performs one day—together. Both are on a great mission for peace.
So true. And when we hold on to only our perceptions as the only way, that the problem begins…
Very insightful, particularly the last para. It is we who attach meaning to an expression and many times distort the reality of things. Perspective definitely broadened.
Religion and creativity seems to have influenced each other very deeply. But a qestion arises very often to me as an artist, as to what is the real source of all this creativity? Where does it all come from?
Swami Vivekanand has said that knowledge does not come from books, it emanates from within, i.e. Paramatma who resides in soul is the cause of this creativity.