“This work of art is, in all senses of the word, still. The figures are motionless, persisting outside of time, never aging or changing, their youth preserved forever. And they’re all silent …
“Here we get down to some serious Dharma. When life is experienced from the higher, all-good perspective of artistic contemplation, it’s not just different. It’s better. Its soundless, timeless melodies are sweeter, 'more endear’d,' than the garden-variety melodies of sound waves. The elevated view is finer, in a way that can’t be conveyed to those who haven’t seen it.
“This aesthetic perspective merges into the spiritual. The sound of silence, 'ditties of no tone,' can’t be heard by the carbon-based 'sensual ear.' They are played 'to the spirit.' The immortality beyond time that is conferred by art — the perpetual vigor of all those youthful Grecian hunks, the unfading beauty of the still-unravished maidens — hints at the realm of immortality reported by all the awakened sages. That realm is always available right here, within your own awareness. Just listen within for the ditties of no tone. Look within at the picture of no line or color. Feel within for the sculpture of no texture or shape.”
