When you focus the mind on attention to great literature, poetry, fiction, theat

Question:sculpture can this make you have more belief in God? Say instead of reflecting only deeply within oneself???The relationship if any between life of the mind and holiness?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: sculpture can this make you have more belief in God? Say instead of reflecting only deeply within oneself???The relationship if any between life of the mind and holiness?

Dear Rita,

I would rather say, when person deeply wishes to know God, to go close to Him, or to realize Him in self, s/he has to incline towards any creativity. Without experiencing His presence, one can not have proper focus on any art or any work.

If someone denies God, still s/he has specific set of positive vibrations and energy towards selected work. And this focus leads to a state where all paths meet, all believers and atheists feel continuously the endless happiness and joy. Some know this as GOD, some as achievement by SELF. But ultimately God and Self merge here. This is the power of focus.

Those who have quest for this merging, unity,focus on any such subject. And according to me, there are more chances of Realization for them.

Personally, I don't have a belief in God; great art makes me feel the capacity of the human spirit to inspire and elucidate.

And I consider that I've lived the life of the mind.

Your mileage may vary.

One thing for sure i believe in - all the things you have mentioned are attributed to God. without God all these things may not be possible.

Thanks for asking. Have a great day!

Reading Dostoevsky had that effect on me.

im e mindless......thats why ime agnostic..with no one to save me.....ime doomed........seamanab x

I believe that the closest that I ever came to what I think you are talking about is when I went to Mount Rushmore for the first time and saw this big mountain taken into the hands of some humans and turned into "art", although it is political, which kind of spoils it, the first thing I thought was "the best of god and man."

I would say I don't think on belief at those times, I just feel more in touch closer to, a silent warmth.

Hi Rita, I personally believe that both relationships in my life, are very important indeed. First one is to experience the presence of God and his creation ,which surrounds me, and i am absorbed into his good works. The second one is, to follow artistic beauty and bond with nature, we all share this bond with our ideas and creation. the bottle line is positive thinking inspires positive creativity and acts of love.

I love literature - I am a writer, I am a poet and I love theatre, music, film, painting, sculpture and even fiction like say 'bible stories' (HaNasi stories). What does these all have to do with a conjured up concept of someone called 'God' except as a character in a fiction book I read? Does my thoughts not come from my own deep reflections? On the topic of 'holiness', what is holy? - Holly-wood?

No.. but I do believe in God. When I focus on paintings etc.... i have the other person who created those works.. but of course God had a hand in those who created those. But After I read this again it would reflect in God's hand that those who created masterpieces ..God has a hand in eveything that takes place.. When one focuses on those things we see everyday yes God did have a plan for those who created that masterpiece.

If you had mentioned Gardening,sewing,Ceramic Painting,or Woodworking,then I would agree with your question, but yes all things are attributed to our Lord God, that without him we are nothing, in this World.

very good questions!
Most people have attributed the need for creative expression through thte arts to be a sign of "higher" thinking. Certainly, this road points the way to art ( in all its forms) as an expression of holiness or spirituality.
However, not all created works have that as their primary goal. ( I'm an opera singer, in opera we deal mostly with very human topics- love greed jealousy death, but rarely sprituality. That got saved up and used in church music)
If you are looking for more Christian contemplative ideas, go to St. Augustine. He wrote in the early days of Christianity, when contemplation was not yet struck off the books as a valid form of worship. If you are not satisfied with that path, the Buddhist path of Mahayana deals specifically with focussing the mind to reflect on the nature and quality of reality ( including the arts), and that might interest you as well.

I for one believe tha we all should be thankful for the treasure that we have,the ones that at one time were and the remains which make up our history.This correlates with God,his many creations which greated some of the wonderful masterpieces of literature by people such as Shakespeare and Virgil, art by Michelangelo, Monet, Manet, Van Dyke,philosophy by Socrates,Plato,Locke and breakthroughs in science for genetics by Mendelev,Einstein and so many more who have changed the way things are today. God created man and man in turn could make such wonderful things as you have listed therefore it is related.

I don't believe in god, unless you're talking about the the Gun Oil and Drugs god. However, beautiful art does bring me closer to the infinite.

One word comes to mind "creation". As humans we reflect our creator(God) and are born with the inherent want, need and ability to create things which we do. Arts, literature and scientific inventions are reflections of those needs and abilities to create. By those inventions, we make the world we live in easier, brighter and ultimately better by exercizing that creative power.