Art and Truth

I’m going to do something I never do and present an idea that I can’t fully verify. So basically, don’t quote me, and hopefully this post gets you thinking, which is ultimately my intention. Some people say the Proto-Indo-European root of the word “art” was the morpheme “rt.” A morpheme is the smallest bit of a language to make sense; a morphological unit of a language that cannot be further divided.

“Rt” was associated with creation, beauty, and moral and aesthetic correctness. It was concerned with what was “right.” And also, Sanskrit is considered to be the most faithful to the Proto-Indo-European root. The oldest word derived from “rt” that is still in use in relation to the original meaning is “rta.” Most scholars define the Sanskrit “rta” as both the “cosmic order of things,” a physical order of the universe, and a moral ordering of the universe.

My spiritual teacher, however, defines Rta as truth. For me, that means there’s a connection between art and truth. Art doesn’t always reflect the truth, of course, but when it does, it has power. We all know this. We’ve all been moved by art in some form or fashion. That’s also getting harder to experience because there’s so much competition. We’re being inundated with AI slop. It’s easier to create than ever before, but what, exactly, is being created? We have people creating parodies of the show Love Island using fruits. We have deepfake pornography. We have altered images left and right. But none of it is true, and I’m also not sure it can be called “art.”

The ideal, according to my spiritual teacher, is that artists will keep in mind thoughts of benevolence. He says, “People seek deliverance from the whirlpools of darkness; they aspire to illuminate their lives and minds with light all the time. All their actions, all their feelings, express an inherent tendency to move forward; therefore, if at all they are to be offered something in this regard, the creator of art cannot remain idle or inert.”

He also says, “[A]ll creators of art should express a universalistic outlook through their pens or brushes. If artists … do not do that, we must conclude that their artistic talents have degenerated. In fact, their contributions will then be nothing but rubbish, which may be fit for fertilizer, but if dumped nearby becomes hazardous to public health.”

So yeah, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be keen on AI slop. We have more and more entertainment and less and less art. We have less and less truth but inherently, that’s what we’re all seeking. I know it may not seem that way when lies spread quicker than a respiratory virus, but I do believe this. And for me, as an artist, I’m holding fast to my north star, which is that I may not have millions of followers, I may not be world-renowned, and I may never sell more than 100 copies of my books, but I’m creating something true. And that’s something I can be proud of.

I dream of a world where we recognize the power of art. A world where we endeavor to move people forward on the path of benevolence because we understand that’s the role of the artist. A world where we seek to not merely entertain people but tell the truth with our art.

Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.