Spiritual thoughts

The MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art NY) has a segment which is offsite in uptown Manhattan amiss a park and atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River. It houses beautiful works of Medieval Art. It is named The Cloisters because of its vaulted archways and re-created gardens of the Middle Ages.

I visited on a weekday and as I had the luxury of time I tagged along 2 different groups of Arts Students led by the Museum tour guides. It was my first introduction to appreciating and interpreting art pieces and it was very enlightening. What really struck me is the very strong religious influence in these art pieces.

In the wee hours at night due to jet lag (back in Singapore), it started me thinking about religious influences in both Asia and the West for generations. It seems to me people are born with different realm of spiritual disposition. Some have more ability or need to reach for the inner self or soul. They find themselves in religion, art, music and nature.

I believe however that the way to spiritual growth can be accessible by every person on earth. It does not appeal to me then that any religion that is exclusive in nature (the one and only way to salvation) can be the universal answer to man’s deliverance. A simple housewife say in India or Vietnam should be able to find her spiritual self just as much as the renowned artists that produce those great pieces of art. The other way for the ordinary man and woman has then to be “love and kindness”, that is the ability to love, be it just within the family or beyond. To help ordinary people along, religions have therefore universally preached these virtues and selflessness.

Just like the rings that are added to a tree trunk over the years, I think a person’s spiritual life grows with engagements with one’s inner self. Also, just as trees have different thickness, so people are born with different spiritual disposition probably as a “passed down” from a previous life.