The Subversion Of Art

The existence of art has a totally different meaning and purpose and do I need to say that it involves the Divine!? Listening to music or behold a work of art is a meditation. In meditation we get in contact with the inner world, our real Self. Meditation is a sacred ritual, which puts us in contact with the Divine, through arts beauty, strength and harmony. The interior has all the answers of our very existence and purpose. It is one of the most powerful tools in our lives, without it we would not be able to unlock the knowledge of what we really are, which is a huge part of our task. Ancient civilizations understood the value of music. Both Plato and Socrates regarded music as indispensable for the soul’s health. It is also said that the Chinese, Hindus, Persians, Egyptians and Greeks used it for therapeutic purposes. The music of Mozart has shown in studies on children to have a healing effect on the body, a strengthening effect on the mind and also stimulation on the creative forces.

The creation of concrete forms, in which one can come to contemplate the Divine, is the very reason for the existence of art. The material in the form created by the artist, and the creative process itself, are the feminine principle. The maker must play two roles: as a passive recipient to the idea which is conceived and an active agent towards that which is to be born.1

A musical instrument is not only for listening to. Creating a work of art, in any form, is also a way of shaping your personality, your life-style and to develop virtues as patience, temperance and discipline, but not only that. To be able to create anything worthwhile in this world, we need to be in contact with the Mind of the Universe and through this contact there is no end to what can be created. To experience this force is to realize what most call God – or rather the Superior One – where everything begins. We can also realize that we are made from the same source. Creativity is really a dialog between our soul – the real Self – and the Good One. If this knowledge is destroyed or just left in oblivion, we may not know how to return to our original state – the Golden Age, which needs to be built inside of us.

Music is the greatest power I have ever experienced. I doubt if anything else equals its power to act upon the human organism.2

In contrast with corrupt democratic order, there is the natural and divine hierarchy, which still exists in classical music. Here, this hierarchy is a necessity in order for truly great and sacred art to be created. A gifted conductor with truly superior knowledge and intuition for his art, while performing a work, can inspire and influence – even by his very presence – everyone beneath him to develop and perform their outmost best, irrespective of on what level of musical skill one operates and this can only be done when everybody adjusts themselves to their rightful and natural position in this divine hierarchy. In total trust and unquestioning obediance, everyone will perform their task under the guidance of the conductor, who are in total alignment with the music and his own superiority. A divine phenomenon will occur, which I choose to call; Magic. The conductor is not the top of this pyramid though. We all bow our heads – including the conductor, as well as the composer – to the Divine Source, in performing our duties.

My co-worker Kartavirya described the phenomenon of this natural and divine hierarchy in music, with the conductor at the very top in this way:

He is the prism through which our energy can blossom into the full spectrum of music.

1. Laleh Bakhtiar, Sufi – Expressions Of The Mystic Quest, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1976. [↩]
2. Jean Maas, Music therapist. [↩]