THE SPIRITUALITY OF EASTERN ART 3 



which it represented. This essentially religious 

 outlook is so far removed from the self-conscious 

 art of present-day Europe, which sets so much 

 store on the individuality of the artist, that it is 

 not surprising to find many English people to 

 whom Eastern insight, as expressed in Indian art, 

 is quite unintelligible and consequently un- 

 interesting ; and this misunderstanding has been 

 one of the chief factors in the neglect and decay 

 of Indian national crafts. The phrase " art 

 for art's sake " would be quite incomprehensible 

 and meaningless to an Eastern craftsman — 

 " art for art's sake," a catchword which curiously 

 enough was often used, not so long ago, in 

 connection with the then newly studied arts of 

 China and Japan, showing how at first only the 

 decorative value of these works appealed to 

 Western people ; the mere beauty or strangeness 

 of the surface hiding their inner meaning, so that 

 the motives which inspired their creation passed 

 unnoticed. 



From very early times flowers and plants 

 have been admired and cultivated in India. 

 There are many references to gardens in the old 

 Buddhist literature and the Sanskrit plays. The 

 sacred groves round the Buddhist shrines were 



