On Hinduism and the Alchemy of the Spirit
This week’s text will try to quickly introduce the reader to Hinduism and will present, economically, one of its ritual perspectives in relation to the Sacred Art. I would like, as always, to emphasize the lack of interest in any type of religious conversion, if not to explain the basic knowledge that justifies Hindu art.
Hinduism, in the lens of the West, serves as an umbrella term to encompass a range of beliefs from the Indian subcontinent that are organically related. Such beliefs have their degrees of similarity and difference among themselves, however, the central reference in the development of religiosity is common among them, allowing a generic association. The same can be said about Christianity, for example, that it is nothing more than a generic term to refer to different denominations such as: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, etc. that make the Gospel and the figure of Christ the main point of orientation for their practices and dogmas. Similarly, Islam alludes to the faiths that have the Koran as the structural basis of religiosity, involving Sunnis, Shiites, Ibadis, among others. Hinduism has, in its textual basis, the Vedas, the so-called Books of Wisdom.
In a small introduction, it is speculated that the first Vedas were revealed in 1500 BC and complementary literature was added in the subsequent centuries until 500 BC, making the Vedas the oldest religious literature still practiced today. It is said that the Vedas were revealed by the gods to the ancient saints and sages. These revelations are called “Sruti” and were memorized and transmitted orally by the “Rishis”, the sages and saints to whom they were received. The language in which the Vedas operate is Sanskrit and they only began to be written centuries after their origin for the purpose of preserving the Revelations in scriptures and having them as a reference tool. The minutia on which the Vedas are recited is admirable. It is claimed that the rhythm, intonation, melody, pronunciation, tempo and all the ways in which the hymns are practiced today still go back to the original ways in which they were revealed. This is due to a rigid tradition in which the masters thoroughly teach their disciples since childhood the ways of reciting the Vedas. Therefore, when encountering Hindu monks singing the Vedas — adopting the words of Harvard philology professor Michael Witzel — “it is something like a tape recorder from 1500 to 500 B.C.” (Author’s translation).
Art in the traditions of India offers a perspective of human nature in relation to creation, similarly to the content of the Vedas. The construction of Hindu temples acts as a model of the cosmos and their structures are symbols associated with the dynamics of the universe. One of these dynamics is the “sacrifice” and it permeates through several layers of interpretation and ritual expression in Hinduism. However, in relation to the temple, the ritual sacrifice is in the offering of the material for spiritual service. Certainly an alchemical process that elevates and sanctifies the nature of the material offered and, therefore, the ritual vehicle itself (whoever makes the offer). Titus Burckhardt (1967), art historian expresses that: “We have seen that the construction of a temple is the expression of a cosmology. It carries as well an ‘alchemical’ significance, in so far as it is the support of an inward realization in the artist himself (…)”. This type of “alchemy ritual” is present in all Sacred Arts: an orthodox monk, for example, when painting an icon, undergoes a process of abstinence and fasting so that the means through which the icon will reveal itself, the means as the monk himself, can become pure enough to conceive the work. Another example is given by the Old Testament prophet Haggai who, during the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, questions the “ritual purity” of those who raised it and asks if the temple really does justice to God. This denotes that, in the Sacred Arts in general, but with a special focus on Hinduism, the practice is the reflection of the so-called “Karma Yoga”. It was seen in a previous text (“God and the Compass”) that Hinduism is divided into three initiatory paths: Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge), Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion to God) and Karma Yoga ( the path of action, of practice), which is, in this case, the path of enlightenment through artistic practice.
