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March 31, 2008
Hegel: (1) philosophy, (2) religion, (3) art WRONG!
Religion: outward spirituality
Art: inward spirituality
Religion: prayer
Art: ‘silent prayer’
Art is higher than religion in the sense that true art is the highest form of prayer and communion with the divine.
Religious texts in their highest achievements become poetry. Such are The Book of Job, Songs of Solomon, Sermon of the Mount, Vedas, Upanishads, Tao Te Ching, and the Koran.
Or one can say that poetry in its noblest moments has always been religious. Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Rumi…
Philosophy gives you wisdom.
Religion sets you free.
Art bestows you spirit.
Posted by amin at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2008
I prefer Hinduism to Buddhism.
I have not done an extensive study of Buddhism but from what I’ve read and also my own observation of people who claim to be Buddhists, I see a lack of passion and compassion in Buddhism. Buddhism teaches how to renounce your desires but it doe not replace desires with passions. Therefore, it empties the individual from worldly desires but it does not fill him with spiritual passions. That is why the best Buddhism can do is to give the individual ‘peace’ but not ‘life’. I guess this explains the reason why Buddhism has not produced great art. The artist is one with a heart full of ‘life’. But what is one to do if all he seeks is ‘peace of mind.’ Suppose one even achieves this ‘peace’, what then? If nothing comes out of your peace of mind, then this ‘peace’ is meaningless. But I’m sure there is more to Buddhism than I know or I certainly hope so.
Posted by amin at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2008
India, Iran, and Germany have been the most spiritual nations throughout history.
Indian spirituality is manifested in religion. Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata…
Iranian spirituality is manifested in poetry. Rumi, Hafez, Khayyam, Attar, Sa’di, Sepehri…
German spirituality is manifested in philosophy. Leibniz, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger…
Why is it that the British have never had musicians like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or Wagner?
Why is it that the French have never had thinkers like Bacon, Newton, Darwin, or Russell?
Why is it that the Germans have never had artists like Delacroix, Poussin, Cezanne, or Cartier-Bresson?
The British are analytical, and thus utilitarian .
The French are visual, and thus sensual.
The Germans are abstract, and thus philosophical.
The British character is at its best prudent, and at worst hedonistic.
The French character is at its best artistic, and at worst sexual.
The German character is at its best spiritual, and at worst ideological.
Posted by amin at 6:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2008
Nothing surpasses poetry. Nothing, nothing, nothing...
Posted by amin at 4:17 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Science is based on experiment.
Philosophy is based on reason.
Art is based on experience.
Science explains.
Philosophy instructs.
Art inspires.
Posted by amin at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2008
W.E. Smith called Robert Frank the Kafka of photography. There is a lot of truth to that. Smith himself came very close to be the Dostoevsky of photography, and I guess one is justified to call Cartier-Bresson the Tolstoy of photography. Today I was looking at The Americans. The picture of that dead black man in South Carolina is the ultimate picture I would wish to take. That, and also Smith’s The Walk To Paradise Garden. There is also this picture of a black couple in San Francisco. The expression on the face of that black man…There is so much truth in it. If the right kind of person looks at this picture, he will read into it a short but precise summery of Schopenhauer’s philosophy.
Posted by amin at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
March 2, 2008
These days being a mother is considered the least respectable thing for women. There are much better things to do with one’s life! It’s better to be a secretary, getting paid seven dollars an hour, spend that money on anxiety pills to prevent depression and sleeping pills to be able to have a ‘normal’ sleep, working overtime to pay for a babysitter to take care of the kids, and being the object of your coworkers masturbation…Yes all these things are better and more respectable than being a mother. That’s backward…one has to be a modern woman these days…These pseudo-feminists make my disgusted.
Posted by amin at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)