Expressing the inexpressible

On May 14, 2024, at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, DAAJI was interviewed by GUILA CLARA KESSOUS, the UNESCO Artist for Peace, and Ambassador for Peace of the Universal Circle of Ambassadors of Peace (Geneva) about art.

Art is a way to express your deepest feelings

GCK: What is your definition of art?

DAAJI: It’s very difficult to define, but I would say to make the inexpressible expressible through visual graphics.

For example, when we talk philosophically about animal man becoming human, and humans becoming humane, and the humane quality advancing to become divine or angelic, how can you express that visually? Someone else is in love and dancing away with songs that express their inner state, which otherwise would be difficult to put on paper. So art is a way to express your deepest feelings, which cannot otherwise be expressed in words. When words fail, art can help us to a certain extent. But after some level, it’s difficult; for example, how can you express states beyond bliss through art?

GCK: So it’s a way to connect the intangible with the tangible.

DAAJI: Yes.

GCK: Can art help to connect with the power of oneself and the power of others, as in meditation?

DAAJI: For the artist, art can become a creative thing for centering oneself. Sportspeople get absorbed in playing tennis or badminton or football, and are so happy because they are in the flow. A similar thing happens to a flautist or a violinist or an artist. And meditation is also a kind of a flow, but it is going inward. Artistic expression presents things outward. They are two different directions.

I can go inward to express something outward, to a certain extent. Art can be a powerful tool, but it cannot match the state of meditation because the directions are different. In meditation, we are connected at the deepest level. If we join hands and make a big circle, we are connected through our hands, not through our hearts. Meditation takes us in, purifies the heart, and connects the hearts of individuals. This is my understanding so far.

In meditation, we are connected at the
deepest level. If we join hands and make
a big circle, we are connected through
our hands, not through our hearts.
Meditation takes us in, purifies the heart,
and connects the hearts of individuals. 

GCK: So art is a way to translate something intangible, something sacred, something divine.

DAAJI: Well, to a certain extent the heart can help us express the beauty of Divinity. But how can you express the moment of creation, for example? You know, in physics, they talk about the Big Bang theory—there was a singularity, and from this singularity there was a burst of energy. And that energy was so powerful it ended up creating physical objects throughout the universe. How can you represent that moment on paper? Creation is a continuous process, a dynamic process. Once you have created an artwork, it becomes static. So, art has limitations. We would have to create multiple paintings, like a movie, the continuous depiction of the unfolding of creation.

Unconditioning the heart

To me, the heart can be utilized for many things. Heart should be unconditioned. For example, how do I describe beauty on paper? In a certain way. How does a mother describe beauty on paper? Differently from me. How do you describe beauty on paper? And someone else? We all attribute beauty based on our backgrounds and our conditioning.

There are 700 to 800 people here, and when we look at each other we are constantly screening and filtering. The first thing that strikes us: this is a woman, this is a man. Next, we might describe the dress. People who are interested in watches will spot the type of watch you are wearing. Lovers of jewelry will observe the jewelry you are wearing. And a cobbler will look at your shoes, and judge the kind of person you are based on your shoes.

We are in the business of reading hearts, so with closed eyes we look at hearts. The heart can be felt when we close our eyes; the heart can perceive things when we close our eyes; whereas we create art with open eyes.

Whatever we do, however, the heart will give the right signal, and this signaling from the heart must be protected. If we don’t have an unbiased heart-mind, our feelings and perception will be wrong. The purer the heart, the better the signals it gives to represent something as it is.

Whatever we do, however, the heart will
give the right signal, and this signaling from
the heart must be protected. If we don’t
have an unbiased heart-mind, our feelings
and perception will be wrong. The purer the
heart, the better the signals it gives to
represent something as it is.

GCK: You are such a creative person. Would you consider yourself an artist?”

DAAJI: Human beings are multifaceted personalities, and when we include the heart, the aspect of creativity is infinite. You can write a lovely book, paint, play music, sit quietly and listen to music like nobody else, sit quietly for days without being disturbed, without asking for anything, or you can sit under a tree and gaze at the stars at night. These are all aspects of your individuality.

But we can also go beyond this individuality, which is after all an aspect of ego, because it limits us. Artists, flautists, and violinists are limited professions. When we become individuals without personas, without masks, and go deeper in our hearts, many things come out in the form of creativity.

If I say, “I’m an artist,” it will not be the truth according to the traditional definition. An artist is one who expresses something on paper or canvas, or through music, and I can do none of that. Yet I do feel that I am an artist from inside; but I am not only an artist. The multifaceted quality God has given us means that we are all infinite; there is no limit to our creativity. Being an artist is a beautiful thing, as it represents creativity, but just to create in one way is limiting. All the great artists and composers were also limited. Opening the heart creates infinity in front of us. That is the role of meditation.

GCK: What is your advice to the younger generations to go beyond, unleash this creativity, and allow ourselves to be multifaceted?

DAAJI: If you wish to go beyond, the question is: Where will you go? What is beyond yourself? What is beyond your heart? What is beyond your mind? The Creator. You are just a drop of water. Imagine you are on the beach at the seaside. Water sprays on you, and some falls on your palm. What would be going through that water drop if it had consciousness? That I’m separated from my mother, the ocean.

If you wish to go beyond, the question is: Where will you go?
What is beyond yourself? What is beyond your heart?
What is beyond your mind? The Creator.

We are also droplets, separated from the ocean of consciousness. We are not aware that we are separate, but we do feel the pain of separation, and no one can ease this pain unless and until the drop falls back again into the ocean; until this lifeforce once again merges with the Ultimate. And this possibility exists for one and all. Solve this problem and all other problems in life disappear.

Second, all beings without exception, be they human, bird, animal, or plant, seek happiness. No one seeks unhappiness, no one seeks misery. Can you remain happy under restless conditions, where there is violence, when you don't know what’s going to happen next? No. Though you have everything, because of the unpredictability, you will not have happiness. That means happiness requires absence of restlessness, which means harmony within and without. Can you be harmonious within without peace in your heart? Is peace possible without a contemplative mind? Is a contemplative mind possible without having a focused mind? And is a focused mind possible without exercising your mind? The only exercise to arrive at a focused mind is meditation. Now, you connect the dots.

If you really want to be happy, in the true sense, meditate. Meditate on things you love; it need not just be God. Express yourself through art, make art your meditation and refer to the heart all the time, center your focus in the heart, and let the creativity flow outward.

If you really want to be happy, in the true sense, meditate. 
Meditate on things you love; it need not just be God. 
Express yourself through art, make art your meditation and 
refer to the heart all the time, center your focus in the heart, and 
let the creativity flow outward.

Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM