Monday 23 December 2019

Transcendence of Space & Time in Classical Culture

One of the criteria of Classical Culture, be it Literature, Music or even Mystic experience is its ability to surmount boundaries.

In the case of Literature, most of the works have fallen by the wayside & only a few starting from Valmiki & Homer are still being studied all over the world many aeons after their creation, signifying their universal & perennial appeal.

Similarly with Music, most of Vivaldi's contemporaries are forgotten, leaving his "Four Seasons" ever fresh. Even many years after Pandit Ravi Shankar's demise, students all over the world are painstakingly learning the Sitar.

Even in the case of Mysticism (direct communion with the Divine), common experiences, cutting across religions are being expounded even now. Whether it is the "shewings" of Julian of Norwich or the mystical love of Akka Mahadevi towards her "Channa Mallikarjuna", the essentiality of the experience is never in doubt.

So, to sum up, the similarity of human condition, whether it is Literature, Music, or Mysticism spreads across chronological time & geographical space.