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    A brief discussion on Ananda K. Coomerswamy

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    A brief discussion on Ananda K. Coomerswamy

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    3 views8 pages

    Article Id 094 03 0394 0401 0

    Uploaded by

    Shoeb Karim
    A brief discussion on Ananda K. Coomerswamy

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    HISTORICAL NOTE Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: From geology to philosophia perennis Rasoul Sorkhabi Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), an eminent historian and philosopher of Indian arts and religions, began his career as a Sri Lankan geologist. While his philosophical thinking was influenced by such great minds as Rabindranath Tagore and Rene Guenon, his methodology of researches and writings in the areas of art, culture, religion and philosophy was influenced by his scientific training. A large body of scholarly and insightful works that Coomaraswamy has left is a valuable and useful legacy for today’s scholars and society. ‘Ananda K, Coomaraswamy (Figure 1) sands as a towering seholar and thinker ff the Indian subcontinent during. che first half of the twentieth century, Many recognize him asa historian and philoso- oher of Indian arts and religion (Table 1), but few know thac he was also a geolo- sis (Table 2). As 2007 marked the 130%) anniversary of Coomaraswamy's birth fand kh anniversary of his death, ( un- ddertook to study his geologic works and reflect on how Coomaraswamy’s scie tific uaining and auitude influenced bis ‘works in history, ats, philosophy and re- ligion. Relatively lie atention has been given by Coomaraswamy"s biographers (0 this aspect of his life and work. This rote looks at his many talents and diverse Contributions. Aside from his scholastic ‘works and findings, Coomaraswamy's Viewpoints make him as relevant to our century and generation as he was a cen (ary ago, when humanity suffered from ‘wo World wars, the West-East tensions ‘were high (the Indian liberation mover ment being a notable example), and Aslan counties were struggling, to var ing degrees, berween tradition and mo enmity, scence and religion, as well as ‘between natonasm and inernationalism, ‘These issues are stil with us, and Coo- smaraswamy's perspective is pertinent. Life and career ‘Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (AKC hereinafter has not left any autobiograr ohy and did not like others wo write his biographies either’. Nonetheless, several biographies of AKC are available" and hore I only give a brief sketch of his life as background for discussing his contri= bbuions and though AKC was boen on 22 August 1877 in Colombo, Stt Lanka (Ceylon). His fath Sir Mutha Coomaraswamy, was a Teas lator (ike his father before him) and the refers to two figures in Hindy mythology: first Lankan «© be knighted by Queen Kumara (or Skanda, the son of Shiva) Victoria. Muthu came ftom a Tamil, and the goddess Kumari (whose temple Hindu family. The name Coomaraswamy is located ear Kanyakumari or Cape Figure 1. Aranda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) (Photos trom Lipsey". CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 94, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2008 HISTORICAL NOTE Table 1. Ananda Coomaraswamy/’s major works on Indian at, religions and philosophy Year Tie Publisher 3806 Handbook tthe Exhibition of Arts ‘Colombe, Ceylon {and Crafts: Ceyion Rubber Exhibition 1907 The Deeper Meaning of ne Struggle Essex House Press, UK 3908 The Aims of Indian Art Essex House Press, UK 3908 Medieval Sinnaiese Art Essex House Press, UK 3908 The Message of the East Ganesh Pres, Madras 3909 Essays in Nationa deaism Apothecanes, Colombo 3809 The Indian Craftsman Probasthan, Landon 1910 Art and Swadesni Ganesh Press, Madras 1910 Selected Examples of iaian Art Essex House Press, UK 1910 Indian Drawings, 1st Series India Society, London 4912 indian Drawings, 2nd Seves Ingia Society. London 4912 Buming and Mening ‘Old Bourne Press, London (Ging the Suz-u-Gudaz of Mohammad Reza Nau) (oan Mirza Y. Dawood) 3013 The Arts and Crafts of india and Ceylon Fouls, Edinburgh 1913 Thaty Songs trom the Panjab and Kashmie luuzae & Novello, London (oreword by Rabindranath Tagore) 1914 Mans of he Hindus and the Buaihsts ‘George Harrap, London (vat Sister Nivedita) 3914 Vishvakarma Luzae & 60. London 43015 The Taking of Tot (Danalia) (Old Boume Press, London 43915. Vidyapatn: Songs ofthe Love of Rudra ‘Old Bourne Press, London and Krishna (wih Arun Sen) 2916 Buddha and the Gospel of Budatism ‘George Harrep, London 1816 Rajput Painting (2 vols) Oxford Unversity Press 1917 Theairor of Gesture Harvard University Press (Abninaya Darpana of Nandikesvara) 3918 The Dance of Shiva (Essays) Sunwise Tum, New York 43023 Catalogue of nian Arts (Pars and I Boston Museum of Fine Arts 3824 Portola af indian Arts Boston Museum of Fine Arts 43924 Jaina Paintings and Manuscripts Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Catalogue Part m) 1923 inoaueton Indlan Art ‘Theosophical House, Madras 1925 _Bilographies of nian act Boston Museum of Fine Arts 1925 Rajput Pamning Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Catalogue Part) 3927 History of indian and indonesian Are Weyhe, New York 3028 Yakshas (Part) Smithsonian instiute Miscellaneous Collections 80:6 ‘washington, 0.¢ 1930 Mogu! Painting Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Catalogue Part) 1931 Yaksas (Part) ‘Smitnsonianintiute Publication 3058 Washington, 0. 1933 A New Aporoach tothe Vedas Luzae & Ca. London 1995 The Ri Veda as Land-Nama Bok luzae & Co. London 1995 Elements of Budshis eonoaranhy Harvard University Press 1935 The Transfosmation of tin Nature Harvard University Press 3943 Hinguism and Budshism Philosophical Library, New York 1943 Why Exhbie Works oF 402 Luzae & Co, London (4956 Repent (Christan and Oriental Philophy of At) Dover, New York 3944 Recollection, indian and Platonec Journal af American Oriental ‘nd on the One and the Only Tansmigrant Society, Batimare, 6, Supplement No.3 1946 Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought Luzae & Co, London 1947 Am My Brother's Keeper? (Essays) John Day, New York 3947 Time and Every ‘Auribus Asiae, Swizeriand (CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 94, NO.3,10F (ony HISTORICAL NOTE, Table 2. (Conta) Tie ubiisher Posthumous books 1948 The Ling Thoughts of Gotama the Budana (wan 13: Horner 1948 The Bugbear of Literacy (ed. Lipsey, B) 1972 The Ofgin of the Buddha image 1975 Carly Indian Architecture: Palaces 3977 Coomaraswamy: Selected Papers (Vol Je Traditonal Art and Symbosm Vo 2: Metaphysics) (ed. Lipsey, 8) 1978 Spintuat Autnonty and Temporal Power Inthe Indian Theory of Government 1983 Symbotsm of indian Arcinecture 1985 Fundamentals finan art Vol. Themes and Concepts 1985 The Wal Pawtngs of inci, Cental Asia fad Ceyion (2 vols) 2988 Selected Letters f Ananda Coomaraswanty (eds Abin Moore Jr and Coomaraswamy, RP) 3089 Whatis Civilization? And Other Essays 41998 Yakshas: Essays in he Water Cosmology (4. Scioeger, ©) 1999 Spintat umnoriy and Temporal Power Inthe indian Theory of Government (ed. yengar, KN) 1995 Essays in Architectural Theory (ea Meister.) 1997 The Door inne Sky: CCoomaraswamy on Myth and Meaning (ed. Coomarassamy, . P.) 1999 The Eight Mayas 2000 Perception ofthe Vedas (ed: Misra Vidya Nivas} 2008 Essays on Jaina At (p. 108) (ea. Conen, R. 3) 2003 The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (ed. Coomaraswamy. RP.) 2008 Essays.on Music (ed. Sharma Prem Lata) Cassell & Co, London Dennis Dabston, London Munstiram Manoharal, New Debi Munshiam Manoharal, New Deb Preto Unversity Press Manohar, New Delhi Historical Research Documentation Programme, Saipur Histoncal Research Documentation Programme, Jaipur Manohar, New Det *IGHCA and Oxford University Press, et Lindisfarne Press, USA IGNCA and Oxtord University Press, Deh IGNCA and Oxtord University Press, Det IGNCA and Oxtord Unwersity Press, Det Princeton Unversity Press ‘Munshiram Manohari, New Debs IGCNA & Manohar, New Deb IGCNA and Manohar, New Dette ‘wor wisdom, New York IGCNA and Manohar, New Bethe TIGNCA, Indva Gandhi National Cenive forthe Aas, New Deh CCamorin). Muthu was well. versed in ‘Western classe literature, and was also interested inthe Indian philesophy, espe~ cially Buddhism (he translated two Bud= hist works from Pal into English). All these traits were passed onto his son, Ananda (S0 named after the Buddha's chief disciple Ananda, Ierally meaning joy’). Ananda’s rather unusual mide name, Kentish, refers (0 his. mother’s hhome place of Kent in England, Eliza- beh Clay Beeby had) married Matha ‘wo years before Ananda’s birth and had decided to settle in Ceylon, When An= anda was wo years old, bis mother took hhim co England, and Muthu was sup- posed to follow chem a month later. But fon the day of his departure, Mutha died at an untimely age of forty-six Elizabeth Becby (widowed at thirty and never remarried) got fascinated with her husband's cultural land (although she lived in England) and thus persuaded their son Ananda to acquire and tansmic 4 deeper knowledge of Indian philosophy and religious tradition, (Years. later, Elizabetn” Beeby used co read all of ‘Ananda’s writings, and when she died in 1939, AKC rematked, “I hope that by my efforts and wark, Ihave dane some- thing t@ help in the realization of her desire”) In 1889, AKG (aged ewelve) was ad- miued to Wyclff School in Springietd, England, and studied there for eight years, excelling in Western literature and also developing a strong ineres in geo- logy and biology. (AKC prepared anicles ton the geology of Gloucestershire, where his school was located, and published them in the school joumal, ‘The geology of Doverow Hill” printed in 1895, was Derhaps his first geologic. paper.) In 1897, AKC entered University College, London and graduated in 1900 with B Se (Fist Class Honors) in geology and botany. For the following six years, he was intensely engaged in research on the CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 94, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2008 HISTORICAL NOTE ‘Table 2. Ananda Coomaraswamy’ geologic works Year Publication 11900 On Ceylon rocks and graphite Quarteriy Joumal ofthe Geological Society, London, $6, 80-615. 1901 Note on the occurvence of corundum as a contact mineral of Pont Paul near Morin (Fnstere}. Quarterly Journal ofthe Geo logical Society, London, 87, 185-188. 1902 _Sitfleaton of crystaline limestone. (QuartertyJoumal ofthe Geological Society, London, $8, 16-19. 41902 The Balangoda Group, (Quarter Joumal ofthe Geological Society, London, 88, 418-222 11902 Note on the scenery of Ceylon, rsh Association for he Advancement of Sclence Transactions, Section C, pp. 613-614. 41902 Origin oF the crystaine limestones of Ceylon. Quarteriy Joumal ofthe Geological Society. London, $8, 375-278, 1902 The erystaline limestones of Ceylon, Geological Magazine, Fourth Series, 9, 399-424 41902 The erystaline imestones of Ceylon. Geological Society af London, Reports and Proceedings, 190-192. 41902 The Point-de-Galle Group (Ceyfon): Wollastonte-scapotte gneisses, Geviogical Magazine, Fourth Series, 9, 680-689, 1902 Occurence of radaavian in Gondwana beds near Madras Geviogical Magazine. London, Fourth Series, 9, 305, 41903 Serenilbite: A new borosiicate of Ceylon. (G.T. Prior and AKC) IMineralogeal Magazine, London, 13, 724-227, 1903 Observations onthe Tiree marble, wth notes anothers fom ona, QuartertyJoumal of the Geological Society, London, $8, 91-104, 41904 The erstaline rocks of Ceylon. Spaia Zeylanca, Colombo, 105-111 41904 Mineralogie! Notes. Spotia Zeylancia, Colombo, S7-64 1904 Mineral Resources. Oficial Handbook ofthe Ceylon Coun, Colombo. 1804 Recent marine clays at Kuchavel, Ceyin, Spoia Zeyiancia, Colombo, 199-200. 11904 Report on thorante and thorte. Government Printing Offee, Colombo, pp. 2-4 1904 _Administative Report fr 1903, Mineralogical Survey, Ceylon, 9p. LI-U12. 1805 Intrusive pyroxentes, mica-pyroxendes and mica-racks in the chamokte series or granultes in Ceylon. Geological Maga- 41905 Report on tho accurrance of eassiterite (oxide on). Government Printing Office, Colombo. 1905 Adminisatve Report for 1908, Vineralogical Survey, Ceylon, 1905, €1-E22, 41906 Administrative Report for 1905, Mineralogical Survey, Ceylon, 1906, £1-E18. 1906 Geoiogical Map of Kandy Distct. 1906 Bibliography of Ceylon Geology 1906 Glossary of Sinhalese Mining Terms, 1906 Glossary of Sinhalese Terms Used for Gems and Gemming, 1907 __ Administrative Rept for 1906, Vineralogical Survey, Ceylon, 1907. E1-E13, ‘cology of Sri Lanka; from 1903 0 1906 founded che Ceylon Social Reform Sock important cransition from geology to cul hhe was appointed the fist Director of che ety in 1905, and is joummal Ceylon Na- tural studies Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon. In 1906, dana! Review in 1906. ‘After a three-month stay in India, hhe oblained a D'Se degree in geology The year 1906 marks a drastic uans- AKC left for England in 1907. For the from London Universiy, his thesis, formation in AKC’s career from that of 2 following. ten years, he plunged into a “Contributions to the geology of Ceylon”, pafessional geologist oan amateur study of Indian arts and philosophy. He ‘was a collection of his published papers. are histrian, 1 igus philosopher, and purchased an old, large eu (He was the first Lankan to obiaina doc essayist~a career path which he ulti- Broad Capmden and set up a printing forate dogree from a British university, mately excelled toa high degree of repu- workshop called the Essex House. Most and his D Se is recorded in the London ation and scholarly contribution, For of his early books were printed and pub- University Gazeue, 7 February 1906.) reasons we do not exactly know, AKC lished by himself and his wife. From While living in Ceylon and travelling decided to quit geology and leave Sri 1909 «0 1912, AKC divided his life bet- to villages on field trips (especially in Lanka—never to return again. (His link ween England and India, drawn espe- the environs of Kandy), AKC became in-_ with geology was symbolically preserved cally to Rabindranath Tagore’s circle, ‘eresced in Sri Lankan folk arts and tadi- ina gold ring se witha star sapphi ehe India’s iberaion movement under ‘ional culture, and (with the support of —usaally wore, and his hobby of gatden- Mahatma Gandhi (whom he met in 1914 his cowsins Sir Ramanathan Ponnambalam ing). His 1905 paper on paddy cultivae in London), the Indian Society of Orin and. Sie (CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL ‘Arunachalam Ponnambalam) on ceremonies in Ceylon’ marks an tal Ast in’ Caleuusr (run by Tagote’s NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2008 aw HISTORICAL NOTE, nephews), and the Indian Society which [AKC founded in London in 1910, By 1916, AKC had collected a large number of valuable classial Indian ats, especially series of miniature paiotings ‘with moais of Hindu myths, which were hen mistakenly thought to be Mogul painkngs, but AKC named (character- led) them as Rajput paintings. Despite his hopes and attemps to find an aca- demic job in the field of Indian arts in India self and his offer to donate bis art collection tawatds establishing a Natio- ‘al Maseum in Varanasi (Banaras), the British Indian government refused his suggestions. In 1917, AKC accepted an fofler from Denman W. Ross of Harvard Universcy to start and head the Indian ‘Art Department atthe Boston Museum of Fine Arts, In this way, AKC and his arts collection moved to. Boston —never (0 retum (© India. In 1922, AKC added Mohammedan Ar also co his department, and in 1933, his ile changed from the Keeper of Indian and Mohammedan Arts to Fellow for Research in Indian, Persian fand Mohammedan Ait—a position he ‘maintained forthe rest of hs lite 'AKC maried four times. In 1903, he smarvied Ethel Mary Partridge, an English photographer, who lived with him in Sei Lanka, England and India; they divorced in 1910, His second wife, Alice Richard son, was also an Englishoman but changed her name to Ratan Dev and be ‘ame an Indian musician, They had a son and a daughter, The couple divorced a fe ‘years after they had moved from England o America, Stella Bloch was an Ameri= can pain and dancer, and twenty-two years younger to AKC. They fist met in 1917 (the year AKC went to America) and finally married in 1922, but with ‘AKC In Boston and Bloch in New York, ‘hey practically didnot live together. The couple divorced in 1930. In the same yeat, AKC marred, Dona Lulsa Runsteln’, fan Argentine-born Jewish photographer in Boston and tweny-eight years younger than him (she died in 1971), They had fone son, Rama Ronnambalam’ On 15 August 1947, India officially ‘obtained her Britain independence and the joyful AKC gave a speech on this feceasion at Harvard, prising Mahatma Gandhi and adding that ‘I am proud of nation whose flag isnot nationalistic but pointing co man's relation with the cos mos", A week later, on his seventieth birthday and at a farewell dinner atthe Harvard Club in Boston, AKC talked of on his future plans: “This is our plan, mine and my wife's—to return (© India next year thinking of this as an astam ga ‘mane, “going home’. There we expect 0 rejoin our son, Rama, who after eaveling With Marco Pallis [author of Peaks and Lames} in Sikkim and speaking Tibetan there, is now at the Gurakil Kangr Lat Haridwar] learning Sanskrit and. Hindi with the very man, Pandit Vagishvari, ‘with whom my wife was studying thete twelve yeas ago, We will emain in India, now a lee county, forthe rest of out lives’. These words eloquently show that even though AKC lived and worked inthe US for three decades, his spiritual link to India had intensified over time. However, his dream did not come cue On 9 September 1947, AKC died of a heart atack in the garden of his home at Needham, Massachuseus, (That day he was finishing a revision of The Dance of Shiva) Bight years later, AKC’S ashes were immersed in the Ganges at Allahae bad. ‘AKCs contebutions to human thought are many-sided™. A bibliography of his ‘works lists 95 volumes and over 900 ar- ticles", Roger Lipsey, who has edited a three-volume book on AKC's life and ‘work, devotes the fist volume to “Tradi- tional Arts and Symbolism, and the second volume to "Metaphysics". (The third volume is a biography of AKC) While chese categories broadly capture AKC’s conuibutions to the humanities, his geologic contributions should not be ignored, and this indeed is my point of departure inthis essay. Geologic con ms ‘Table 2 iss the geologic publications of cently collected in a handsome volume! (Figure 2) containing 23 articles: 19 of Which are research papers published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geotagical Society (London), Geological Magazine Condon), Spotia’Zeylancia (Colombo), etc, and four administrative reports from the Mineralogical. Survey of Ceylon (panning 1903-1906) Judging fom his publications, AKC's main field of expertise was mineralogy and petrology, with case studies from Sei Lanka. His fst research paper, ‘On Cey- Jon rocks and graphite” (1900) describes 16 different types of crystalline rocks foom this ‘continental island” with “wide- spread and characteristic pyroxene- sramulites’, He then discusses the mode of occurrence and origin of graphive— *Ceylon's most important mineral prod luck; ies export began before 1830, and ow amounts (© about 18,000 wanes yearly’. AKC notes that graphite chiefly ‘curs as veins in the Ceylon rocks, “nat in beds of lenticular steaks’, and’ sig fests chat it probably formed from liquid hydrocarbons passing though the rock and were chemically reduced (loosing hydrogen) later, leaving carbon in place ‘AKC also studied “Crystalline lime- stone’ racks from Sri Lanka, and in ase fies of papers (Table 2) he argued that these rocks were interbedded and con- twmporaneous with charnokite rocks (Chammokite is a coarse granular rock of Precambrian age and ignecus origin, frst discovered in southern India and named after Job Charnok of the East India Company in Caleuta, whose tombstone |s made ofthis rock) AKC observed that the crystalline limestone beds had strc ‘ural foliation (mineral banding) parallel to that of the neighbouring rocks, and that there was a contact mineralization zone (characterized by the mineral diop- Side) between the ew. “Last year, while staying at Madras 1 paid a short visi to Svipermatar (a town 138 kilometres souhwest of Madras, c= ‘companied by Mr Ranga Chari, MA, of the Madras University. did not obtain ‘many plant remains, but was struck by the very poreellanie character of ‘the shales containing them. A few specimens were collected... In the thin slices cot from these specimens Radiolaia are (© be seen.” This is how AKC reported his discovery of radiolania in the Upper Gondwana beds (he Rajmahal. Series) Figure 2, Collection of Coomaraswamys {geologic papers, published in 2001 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 94, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2008 HISTORICAL NOTE near Madras, and published in the Geo Iogical Magazine (Table 2), Along with G. T. Prior, AKC discov- cred a new mineral withthe composition of Cay(Mg, ADKO:[(S1, Al, BkOrs] at Gangapitiya near Ambakowe (about 18 km eas of Kandy) in 1902. In a paper published inthe Mineralogical Magazine (London), the new mineral was named "Sorendibite’ (after Serendib, an old Arab name for Ceylon). This mineral is listed in the authoritative book, Rack Forming Minerals by W. A. Deet, R.A Howie and 1. Zussman, 1978) acknowl: egg its discovery by Prior and AKC Pethaps AKC's greatest geologic dis- covery was thorianit, a mineral withthe composition (ThU)O, (He, Ce, La, Pb, Pe), found in granitic rocks, which he re= ported from the Bambarabotwwa District, Ceylon in 1904 (Table 2). AKC sent samples ofthis economie mineral deposit fo Wyndham Dunstan, Sir William ‘Crookes, Sit William Ramsay, and Marie Cure for further examination. Rangana- than", who has examined these corre- spondences (given to him by the late D. IN. Wadia, who was the Mineral Advisor to the Government of Ceylon in 1938), ‘writes that Madame Curie suggested the few mineral be named ‘coomarte” after AKC; however, this unselfish scientist id not promote his name. tn 1904, Dunston published a paper in Nature, re- porting his discovery of the new mineral (collected by AKC) and named it thor nite. AKC then retracted his paper on {his mineral which he had submited co Spolia Zeylancia (in Colombo). We thus ‘only have his four-page ‘Report on thoi: fanite and thorite’ in the Government Priming Office, Colombo (Table 2) Ranganathan adds that different mine eral discovered by D. B. Pattiantchi has been named “Anandite’, after AKC. From geology to the humanities {A geologist studying rock samples from 4 particular area accurately records the location, mineralogical constituents, and structural sewing of the rock, and then reports his findings and interpretations in 4 regional context in order ta elucidate the evolution and processes that have shaped the rock and the region. AKC’s scientific background and his training in geology exerted considerable influence Con his works in the history of ants and the philosophy of religion in India. These in (CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL fMuences are remarkably evident in the following: (1) Systematic description: In his es: says and books, AKC gives @ systematic description of his study subject includ ing background information, analysis of the elements and constituents. of the study subject and its relations with ther subjects His auenton co the terminology fof Indian arts and religions was lke that fof a petrologist. With his knowledge of several Eastern and Western Languages (including Sanskrit and Greek), he de- ‘compose words inta thelr origin, history and fabric, and came up with new inter. pretations (2) Broad context: AKC placed his ‘study subject ina larger context with far- reaching. implications, chus amplifying the significance of hs esearch works. In his best known essay “The dance of Shiva’, AKC derives a metaphysical ‘cosmology from a sacve of Shiva Nata (Lord of Dancer) and concludes: ‘No ar Ist of today, however grea, could more fexacly or more wisely create an image ofthat Energy which science must posts- late behind all phenomena’. Commenting fon AKC's Buddhist Iconagraphy, one scholar noted, “His explanation of mous transfers chem from the category of the ‘omamental co the category ofthe signfi- cant’ (Norman Brown ina tribute quoted in Dura} Raja Singam’), ‘The perennial philosophy ‘The Hind and Bddlhist ans were the portal of entry for AKC into philosophy; therefore, itis important to consider first his views on art discussed in his many books (Table 1), buc eloquently so in Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Act and The Transformation of Nawre in Art AKC calcd the modern Western con cepts of “aesthetics” (literally meaning “feeling? which AKC characterized as ‘sentimental’ work) and ‘art for the sake of ar. Im modern at (at least inthe frst half of the ewentieth cencry) he artis is an individualistic person who has no ‘other purpose than to express himself (or herself), and the at lover is a hedonistic person who merely seeks pleasure, In this way, the modern society is divided imo artists, who supposedly create cul- ture, and non-atists who work and per form the dally operation of society. AKC argued that this view of modern (and NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2008 ‘cademic) art appeared only after the European Renaissance and Laer spread telsesehere, and chat iis in sharp contrast with che place and function of art in tar ditional societies = whether Eastern oF Wester, In such socetes, everybody Is an artist and at isnot something imac tical or marginal, but actually vocational making. In other words, at is “making well of whatever needs making, jst 35 tetics isthe right way of doing things In trodiional societies, there is m0 dis: tinction between fine ats and other ars (decorative arts, useful ans, handerafts, fe). All sar, fine and useful for people Moreover, there is no distinction bet- ‘ween religious versus secular ats or bet- ween sacred. versus profane arts. AIL are Is sacred and religious because the artist, js not an egoistic person who wants to promote his own sentiments (and sup- Dosedly novel, original visions) but rather a selfless person who wants (0 ‘create idealistic forms which are not only beautiful and entertaining but also mean= {ngfal and educational ~ pointing to some divine aspect and metaphysical notion food and useful for the human mind and Social life. Tha is why pre-modern art- did not put their own names on thei artworks because they were neither go ste nor claiming to be original, bu dat they knew that they were simply reveal- ing what was already existent inthe divine imtelleet” or to quote Shankara, “painted by dhe spivit onthe canvas of the sii In this sense, “Asiatic artis ideal in the mathematical sense: Like nature (natura rnatarans) not in appearance (vz. chat of ens nawurata), bat in operation" “The doctine af art is inensie o the philosophia perennis and can be recog rized wherever it has not been forgotten tha “culture” originates in-work and not ln play"®. The term “perennial philoso phy" was popularized by Aldous Huxely (1894-1963) as the tile of his 1944 book, but the word and the concept are ‘much older, and were advocated as a ‘wentieth-centary thought by Rene Guc- ron (1886-1951), AKC (who was im- pressed by Guenon in the 1930) and Frthjof Sehuon (1907-98). 1 can be de- scribed as the “transcendental” religious thought (or metaphysical doctrine 35 AKC called) which is inherent in all spiritual tadions of the humanity, ori the words of AKC: “There i a universal language, verbal and visual, of the fan- ‘damental ideas on which the

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