Icons in Hindu, Taoist & Christian Monasticism

The word icon etymologically traces itself back to the Greek word eikon which meant an image or figure. Iconography is the study of how images come to be imbued with their cultural and symbolic significance. Religious iconography, a subdivision within this field of study, scrutinizes how different religious denominations have developed distinctive icons to mark their own special traditions, ceremonies and feast days. This essay will offer a brief overview of how Hindu, Taoist and Christian Monasticism began using icons as an inroad for developing their spiritual traditions more definitively. Icons, to be understood as emblematic manifestations of the spirit, intensified the process of meditation for variant religions.

The classical art of Islam reached its zenith in the "sixteenth and seventeenth-century monuments of Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Persia and Mughal India." Great Islamic art is predominantly associated with architecture and ornament. In an attempt to serve as a prophet of purification, Mohammad denounced the idols of ancient Arabia, their animistic religion, and their polytheism. In attempting to forge the Islamic faith Mohammad commanded his fellow Muslims to reject the use of images. His iconoclasm demanded a denouncement of representational art and, in tandem, its use as a visual aid for worship or as a means of propagating the faith. Muhammad's declared aversion to religious icons actually underscores their use as a

nfolding. Meditating upon the presence of Visnu returns the Hindu faithful to a contemplation of the principles of wisdom and the eternal. The third member of the divine Hindu triumverate is Devi, a goddess. Here the creative principle is worshipped as feminine. She is also known as ?atki, an all pervading energy or power to be. Her power is to be understood as the power of all the gods. Curiously, Devi manifests herself in many forms. Her most common manifestation is as Durga who is usually depicted in the act of beheading the buffalo demon regarded as the mightiest of all demons. As Yoganidra she is seen in her most beautiful image. As Gauri, she appears as the White Goddess. It is under this aspect that she is contemplated by the gods who watch her standing atop an alligator. Here the Hindus worship femininity as an expression of the beautiful and the divine. Taoism first manifests itself as one of the native religions of China dating back to its ancient cultural and folkloric traditions which attempted to express the self's relationship to the cosmos. Tao elusively translates as "the Way" and is meant to identify the "eternal order." Universism identified as the dynamic of a harmonious naturalistic universe

Category: Arts - I