A Religion of One's Own by Thomas Moore

A Religion of One's Own by Thomas Moore

Author:Thomas Moore [Moore, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-01-09T05:00:00+00:00


PART FOUR

A Poetic Life

Thoreau got up each morning and walked to the woods as though he had never been where he was going to, so that whatever was there came to him like liquid into an empty glass.

—JOHN CAGE

Chapter 7

ART AS A SPIRITUAL PATH

There can be poets who know life, who know its problems, and who survive by crossing through the currents. And who pass through sadness to plenitude.

—PABLO NERUDA

Waking up is the first act. One day something in you stirs and you wake up from ignorance and sheer unconsciousness. You wake up from neglect of things that matter. You wake up to a new vision of your world and your place in it. It is no accident that the Buddha is called the awakened one, and Jesus frequently charges his students to go out among the people and wake them up.56 Some moments of waking are minuscule. You hardly know they exist when they’re happening, and only later do you realize that your world has changed. You wake up many times during your lifetime, if you’re lucky, and never stop waking as you make new significant discoveries.

If you really want to be religious in a culture that has lost deep religion either in its secular ways or in hollow religious practices, you have to discover the power of the arts. You need more windows onto eternity and can’t dispense with the special portals of music, drama, poetry, dance, and all the other modes of image making. In a sacred milieu, art is not an option but is essential.

I’ve had countless waking experiences through art. One took place in a New York theater when I saw Richard Burton play the role of the psychiatrist in the play Equus. The play itself was a shock to me, to see how modern theater could probe so deeply and imaginatively into religious material, but the startle of it happened the moment Burton stepped out on the stage. He didn’t have to say a word. His presence there was enough to move anyone with the least appreciation for acting and stage presence.

That single moment of Burton’s appearance stays with me and is like a spring of the Muses. I draw on it when it’s my turn to be creative in public. It’s part of the lore that sustains my personal religion. I make my contribution to the world through words, my art, which is also my ethics. My memory of Richard Burton onstage helps me stay in touch with my sacred powers and intentions.

My awakening to art took many years and many experiences, like many small lights turning on one at a time. Certain paintings, buildings, music, and books have lighted a candle in my imagination and have allowed me to face my destiny. Your awakening to the possibilities of a personal religion might also happen in small increments. Your task is to be alert and responsive.

What Is the Deep Purpose of Art?

Art allows you to play, express, represent, honor, heal, teach, sanctify, encode, and explore ideas.



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