Art is religion without the theology,
creeds,
dogmas,
doctrines...
without the presumption
that it is explaining,
defining,
elucidating
spiritual truth
in a logical, rational, reasonable kind of way.
Art says with images and metaphors
"That Which Cannot Be Said,"
as the old Taoists might say.
Art communes with,
and communicates as well as
can be communicated
its encounter with the Numen,
the Numinous,
the Ineffable...
Art is "transparent to transcendence,"
and expresses,
exhibits,
displays,
reveals,
Transcendent Reality
in every age
as well as that can be done
in any age.
In a tribute to the Shinto religion of Japan,
Joseph Campbell describes beautifully
the religious experience of no theology.
He begins with a Japanese poem that is
anonymous:
Unknown to me what resideth in this glade,
Tears flow from a sense of unworthiness and gratitude.
He says that Shinrto rites are occasions
for the evocation and awareness of awe and gratitude
to the source of nature and being.
It is expressed as art in any of its forms
addressing the sensibilities and not the faculties
of logic and reason.
Living Shinto is not following some moral code,
but living in gratitude and awe among the mystery
of things as they are. "The kami is pleased by virtue
and sincerity" states a 13th century Shinto work.
Sensing the numinous and responding to it with awe and "gratitude for its mystery" is the core foundation
of religion at its best
with no theology, doctrine, dogma or creed to distract
and detract from it's power to command awe from its servants.
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Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 