Book Review: "Religion of Art" by Sangharakshita, a Buddhist Teacher

BUDDHIST DOOR
By Jeffrey Martin

If the goal of Buddhism is nirvana, or at least to live a life based on Buddhist principles, how does the creation or consumption of art lead to, or away from, that goal? Out of this inner conflict came four essays, collected in 1980 in "The Religion of Art."  The author was a young Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order. Sangharakshita sets out an ethics for the spiritually-minded artist in which the serious aspirant must first renounce bad art, including newspapers, pulp magazines, tenth rate fiction, second and third rate poetry, religious lithographs, popular paintings, commercial calendars, and inartistic furniture, carpets, and crockery. The artist’s home is to be made of pleasing materials and located in a pleasant setting. He suggests the artist not take work that does not offer regular periods of rest. Prospects of “financial gain, … worldly advancement, and… social prestige” must be entirely abandoned. [link]