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I’m an artist, so I want to briefly share my understanding of how art has and will increasingly have a powerful role in the world-changing process of the Baha’i revelation.
Historically, in civilizations where art existed as an important central activity, they rose to very great heights. In the Toltec, the Ancient Persian, the Yoruban, the Greek, and many other cultures, the arts informed every aspect of life. In these great cultures, art wasn’t merely “entertainment.” For instance, the Toltecs had artists as actual rulers.
Can you imagine?
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To try and picture it, let’s define what the Baha’i writings mean by the word “art” — which doesn’t only mean “the arts” in the way we normally think of them today. In the future state of society the Baha’i teachings envision and promise to bring about, not everyone will play the violin, thankfully. Instead, the word “art,” as it is often used in the Baha’i writings, means to strive for perfection.
Whatever it is that you do can be an art if you see it that way and strive to perfect it.
In their writings, both the Bab and Baha’u’llah ask us to enter into a state of mind in which we see it that way, in which we are the protagonists — the artists — building a peaceful and equitable global civilization.
Isn’t that what artists do — expand and perfect civilization?
Baha’is are encouraged to refine or perfect everything in our lives, in essence, to be artists with our very beings. We are asked to refine our outer appearance by dressing with dignity and cleanliness; to perfect our behavior by becoming more kind, loving, and understanding; to perfect our thinking to be less biased and more open to learning new things; to observe humanity from a much wider perspective; to learn to better listen to others; to perfect our gratitude for life by being more generous; to be more just in how we treat all people; to refine our endeavors and industries so they yield the best long-term potential for all humankind without doing any harm to nature.
As just one example among a multitude, Baha’u’llah’s son and successor Abdu’l-Baha was, among other things, a pioneer of regenerative farming in Palestine in the early 1900s. He refined the practice of farming, and the outcome of his agricultural activities had far-reaching implications.
In short, Baha’is try to perfect the visible to reflect the invisible. We are to make the unknown known, to exhume the hidden potentials and mysteries of creation. Baha’is do that work in the spirit of service to humanity. This is what artists and scientists, workers and inventors, advocates, and humanitarians have always done. Baha’u’llah said this work is sacred, that it is worship:
It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation — such as a craft, a trade or the like. We have exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship of the one true God. Reflect, O people, on the grace and blessings of your Lord, and yield Him thanks at eventide and dawn. Waste not your hours in idleness and sloth, but occupy yourselves with what will profit you and others.
Of course, we know that art has always been used to illuminate religion. In early Christendom, visual art served as a great means of education, as so many were illiterate. Visual art could tell the stories without words. This narrative power is one of art’s great strengths. But when religion or the state or even the individual becomes fanatical, art can also become propaganda — so like any tool, art’s narratives can be used for good or … not so good.
While art has functioned as a way to tell the story, producing a narrative isn’t the only role of art. There is another aspect just as important, if not more so: how creativity itself spiritualizes us.
In our commercialized culture, it’s sometimes hard to realize, but we all have creativity. The way we talk to each other using various subtle tones, slang, euphemisms, and idioms reflects our creativity through expression. Everyone does this, no matter their level of formal education.
We constantly express our very humanness in all its comedy and tragedy. Through it, we may see ourselves more clearly because art is a mirror. We dialog about the issues of our lives through art. We don’t really know what we are or what we are made of until we act to make something. It is through the attempt of the creative act that we learn of our strengths and our weaknesses. So, trying to perfect anything with all our capacity, trying to express what we think and feel, is really the practice of becoming self-aware. Art is our spiritual feedback loop. Along with prayer, meditation, learning, and conversing with others, art is a method of gaining self-awareness, and so it has been called a ladder to God. The Bab wrote: “ …. For verily one who perfecteth his handiwork indeed attaineth certitude in the perfection of the handiwork of God within his own being.”
Perfection, in the Baha’i way of thinking, also includes intent — the purpose for which one perfects. However, we know that human beings can also perfect instruments of war and destruction, greed, oppression, and tyranny, as we see today. So a major component of the Baha’i concept of perfection is to achieve perfect intent — to do “the good,” as Plato said. Because we humans have the capacity to fashion things, a moral obligation comes with this power. The Bab, as quoted in Nader Saiedi’s book “Gate of the Heart,” said:
Whoso possesseth power over anything must elevate it to its uttermost perfection that it not be deprived of its own paradise … should he know of a higher degree of refinement and fail to manifest it …. he would deprive it of its paradise, and he would be held accountable, for why has thou, despite the possession of means, withheld the effusion of grace and favor.
The arts have always represented an arena of human activity that contains a good degree of high intent, where “the effusion of grace and favor” is present. Yes, there are instances when the arts are pursued only for fame or wealth. Because the profession of art has come to spotlight the artist for the sake of market and branding, narcissistic personalities are sometimes drawn to it — but there are countless people who have made art from a desire to celebrate that which is outside themselves, to celebrate nature, other humans, and all spiritual phenomena.
As all things are created by God, the Fashioner, when we imitate the process by fashioning something ourselves, we celebrate existence and, therefore, praise the Creator.
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Art occurs when humans attempt to create beauty, and it is in the crucible of the effort that beauty emerges. A true artist is any person who always strives to get to the next level of perfection in whatever it is they do. Abdu’l-Baha wrote:
I rejoice to hear that thou takest pains with thine art, for in this wonderful new age, art is worship. The more thou strivest to perfect it, the closer wilt thou come to God. What bestowal could be greater than this, that one’s art should be even as the act of worshipping the Lord? That is to say, when thy fingers grasp the paintbrush, it is as if thou wert at prayer in the Temple.
In this way, the Baha’i Teachings encourage all of us to become like artists, to become creative in whatever field we work in so that by “taking pains” to perfect it, we become more spiritually aware and, in turn, improve the world. These two outcomes, at once both personal and societal, result in the transformation of the inner and outer worlds and thus help to transform this world into paradise. The Bab encouraged everyone to “build the earth anew” by perfecting their handiwork:
O my God! Thy handiwork hath always been complete, alI-encompassing, perfect, and unfailing, and it will always continue to be perfect, unfailing, complete, and all-encompassing …. Thou hast commanded Thy servants, from the beginning that hath no beginning, till the end that hath no end, to produce handiwork with the utmost perfection, for this is verily the reflection of the perfection of Thy handiwork …. For verily Thou hast desired, by this law, to build the earth anew by virtue of Thy glorious handiwork through the hands of Thy servants.
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