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EYE of the HEART a Journal of Traditional Wisdom EYE of the HEART A Journal of Traditional Wisdom Issue 4, 2009 La Trobe University, Bendigo Eye of the Heart is a scholarly journal providing a forum for the exploration of the great philosophical and religious traditions. It addresses the inner meaning of philosophy and religion through elucidations of metaphysical, cosmological, and soteriological principles, and through a penetration of the forms preserved in each religious tradition. Eye of the Heart is published bi-annually. It is an Open Access Journal freely available online. A print version is available at cost value through La Trobe University, Campus Graphics (via the Eye of the Heart website). Unless otherwise stated all articles are original and have been peer-reviewed in accord with the Higher Education Research Data Collection (Australian Government, Department of Education, Science and Training) 2008 specifications. Contact: Editor, Eye of the Heart Arts Program, La Trobe University P.O. Box 199, Bendigo 3552, Australia Tel: +61 3 5444 7243; Fax: +61 3 5444 7970 Email: [email protected] Website: www.latrobe.edu.au/eyeoftheheart Publisher: La Trobe University, Bendigo Printed by Campus Graphics www.latrobe.edu.au/campusgraphics. Typeface is World Wisdom used by kind permission of World Wisdom Books www.worldwisdom.com. Cover: ‘Pattern from the Series of Six Knots 1’ (1505-07, Woodcut, British Museum) Copyright: © November, 2009. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published in this issue are copyrighted by Eye of the Heart and the respective authors. No reproduction without express written permission, except in critical articles and reviews. ISSN: 1835-4416 AVAILABLE Print copies available through La Trobe Campus Graphics www.latrobe.edu.au/campusgraphics Editor: Timothy Scott Editorial Board: Rodney Blackhirst, Harry Oldmeadow, John Penwill, Roger Sworder, Algis Uždavinys Advisory Board: Waleed El-Ansary (University of South Carolina), David Burrell (University of Notre Dame, Indiana), James Cutsinger (University of South Carolina), Renaud Fabbri (Miami University), Alan Godlas (The University of Georgia), Peter Kingsley (Warburg Institute), Klaus Klostermaier (University of Manitoba), Livia Kohn (Boston University), Jean-Pierre Lafouge (Marquette University), Patrick Laude (Georgetown University in Qatar), Joseph Lumbard (Brandeis University), Constant Mews (Monash University), James Morris (Boston College), Philip Novak (Dominican University of California), Patricia Reynaud (Miami University), Eliezer Segal (University of Calgary), Reza Shah-Kazemi (Institute of Ismaili Studies), Arvind Sharma (McGill University), David Tacey (La Trobe University), Arthur Versluis (Michigan State University) Table of Contents Editorial 3 Reflections on Eye of the Heart 7 The Iconography of Dürer’s “Knots” and Leonardo’s 11 “Concatenations” by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy The Gong: Harmony in the religion of Java 41 by Rebecca Miatke The Metaphysics of Änandatäëòava, the Bliss-Dance 61 by K. S. Kannan Homer, Poet of Maya 87 by Charles Upton The Garden of the Heart 97 by Mihnea Capruta This is My Body: Symbolism in bread & bread-making 105 by Phillip Serradell The Primordial in the symbols and theology of Baptism 111 by Graeme Castleman Contributors 179 Editorial It is with heartfelt gratitude to those people who have supported Eye of the Heart that we come to Issue 4. Since its release in May 2007, we have received overwhelming positive feedback: the website has attracted in excess of 7000 individual visitors from over 100 countries. Nevertheless, despite its success, this is to be the final issue in its current form. This is not the place to rehearse in detail the reasons for the journal’s discontinuation. Suffice it to say that we have been unable to continue in the face of the incomprehension and hostility in parts of the hierarchy of La Trobe University. For the past thirty years the Philosophy and Religious Studies Program (under various names) at the Bendigo campus of LTU has been a vital and creative centre for the study of traditional wisdom in its manifold forms. Late last year the Program was drastically attenuated; the termination of Eye the Heart, and of the editorial position, was only one consequence of these lamentable developments. The Eye of the Heart website, including access to all issues, will remain available at its current web address. However, we are interested in securing a more supportive host for the journal. Expressions of interest may be directed to Dr Harry Oldmeadow ([email protected]). To strike a more positive note: it was always our intention to use the fourth issue of Eye of the Heart to showcase a selection of the submissions for the Ananda Coomaraswamy Prize. Unlike the essays in the first three issues, these have not been peer-reviewed; we wanted to present a range of essays without subjecting them to the normal academic screening—a process which would have excluded some interesting and highly worthwhile submissions. Mr Graeme Castleman’s essay, ‘The Primordial in the symbols and theology of Baptism,’ which won the Graduate category, did undergo peer-review as the winning entry. It is perhaps worth observing that the length of this paper was questioned by both the reviewer and the 3 Eye of the Heart: A Journal of Traditional Wisdom judges. In fact, a substantially revised and condensed version of this paper is to be published in the Fons Vitae volume, Water & Its Spiritual Significance (2009), celebrating the Louisville’s Festival of Faiths. After some discussion we have decided to publish the longer original version which contains some insightful exposition not included in the shorter version. Issue 4 also includes a reprint of Ananda Coomaraswamy’s, ‘The Iconography of Dürer’s “Knots” and Leonardo’s “Concatenation”.’ As we have noted elsewhere, this rare essay is of great value as a “statement of intention,” insomuch as Coomaraswamy regarded it as a model of the method for any serious investigation of symbols. We wish to thank Mr James Crouch for his help in sourcing and preparing this reprint. Prof. K. S. Kannan’s ‘The Metaphysics of Änandatäëòava, the Bliss- Dance’ surveys the key treatments of the Dance of Shiva, so valued by Coomaraswamy himself, before offering a unique interpretation based upon the work of the yogic guru, Sriranga Mahaguru. Ms Rebecca Miatke’s symbolic analysis of the gong in the gamelan music of Java is the type of illuminating essay which Coomaraswamy himself produced in such remarkable numbers. Ms Miatke’s analysis arises out her personal experience of the gong as a member of a Gamelan orchestra in Australia, and from her travels in Indonesia. Mr Charles Upton’s, ‘Homer, Poet of Maya’ touches upon the kind of serious spiritual interpretation of Homer that is so dear to our own Roger Sworder (a founding member of our editorial board), who has dealt with this in his own way in Science and Religion in Archaic Greece (Sophia Perennis, 2008). Like Mr Upton’s essay, Mr Mihnea Capruta’s, ‘The Garden of the Heart’ is heavily flavoured by the metaphysics of Vedanta, a foundation for much of the work of the perennialists, in particular Frithjof Schuon and René Guénon. In fact Mr Capruta draws heavily on Guénon’s Le Roi du Monde (The Lord of the World), a greatly misunderstood work which, in our opinion, has much to offer. Like Guénon, Mr Capruta moves between various traditions in a way that can seem syncretic, but which generally points to the universal heart which, for that matter, is his theme. Mr Phillip Serradell’s spiritual refection on bread and bread-making arises out of no merely academic curiosity but out of his work as a baker. In these latter days it is a rare joy to find a person whose vocation pursuit is informed by such insight into its spiritual depth. It is a privilege to bring this type of paper to a wider audience. 4 Editorial We would like to take this opportunity to thank the scholars who contributed to Eye of the Heart and to those people who aided in issues of copyright etc. with the reprints. A debt of gratitude is also due to the members of our international advisory board, who have generously offered support and advice. Similarly we are grateful to the people who have given up their precious time and shared their expertise to act as reviewers. On a personal note, I would like to thank Roger Sworder, Harry Oldmeadow, John Penwill, Algis Uždavinys and Rodney Blackhirst for the opportunity to develop and edit Eye of the Heart. Timothy Scott Editor 5 6 Eye of the Heart: A Journal of Traditional Wisdom Reflections on Eye of the Heart I do hope that you are able to find a sympathetic and supportive institutional host for the Eye of the Heart. I hope also that they can recognise the real value of a journal such as Eye of the Heart, in line with the deep appreciation of scholars of religion and philosophy, such as myself. You see, I am acutely aware of the continuing need for such a forum for good scholarship on all aspects of esotericism. This is especially so today, when I witness, with some academic and personal anxiety, the diaspora of the Mandaean nation, as a result of military adventurism. As a result of military incursion into Iraq, the last surviving Gnostic tradition and its esoteric practices are in danger of extinction. In my process of recording what I’m permitted of their esoteric practices, as well as the practices of threatened aspects of esoteric Theravada Buddhism, I am acutely aware of the real need for quality avenues for publication and subsequent academic discussion on these precious records and their related ideas. With the above in mind, I urge any institution to fully support the continuation of Eye of the Heart, so that this meritorious resource may continue to attract good scholarship in this valuable area of research.
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