To defeat the narrow vision

The only way to 'defeat' the 'my-truth-the-only-truth' religions of Islam and Christianity is to expose the world at large to the Advaitic vision of Vedanta. When we realise that the ultimate in religion is the discovery of our true self as being no different from the God we have been worshiping, peace shall prevail, both at the individual level and at the social level. It is heart-warming that most of the Hindu Gurus since Swami Vivekananda have been preaching this truth, nay living this truth. The result is that the best of minds the world over are taking to the meditative religions of the East and questioning dogmatic Islam and Christianity (Churchianity).

More on M.F. Hussain

Like he drew a nude Saraswathi, should he also draw a nude Mohammad initiating his young bride Ayesha in the pleasures of sex? Would we only then proclaim Hussain as a fair painter not afraid to paint everyone and anyone in the nude? If think if Hussain drew Mohammad in the act with sufficient artistry and contextual justification, he is well within his artistic licence to do so. But if it is done merely to provoke, then it is simply not done. Somehow, I do not think he did Saraswathi in the nude to provoke, though many Hindus seem to think just that.

M.F. Hussain

[This is an e-mail I sent to a member of the Haindava Keralam yahoo group.] 30.11.06 Dear Vipin, I think we ought to think of nudity as also an expression of spirituality. M.F. Hussain is an acclaimed artist. Surely we can't deny that he is an artist of merit. When an artist expresses, we ought to look for something deeper than ordinary. We should welcome his dipiction of Saraswathi in nude as an artistic expression and accept it as an attempt to potray the mystique yet another way. About M.F. Hussain not drawing personages or symbols of other religions in the nude - well you cannot predict with an artist, one day he might. (Or maybe not, now that he has been sufficiently cornered for his nude Saraswathis.) K.Venugopal