Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

A collection of important essays by a pioneering interpreter of Indian art, philosophy, and mythology“Brilliant.”—Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand FacesAnanda K. Coomaraswamy (1877–1947) was a pioneer in the study of Indian art, philosophy, and mythology—and in the cultural meeting of East and West. A scholar in the tradition of the great Indian grammarians and philosophers, an art historian convinced that the ultimate value of art transcends history, and a social thinker influenced by William Morris, Coomaraswamy was a unique figure whose works provide virtually a complete education in themselves. Finding a universal tradition in past cultures ranging from the Hellenic and Christian to the Indian, Islamic, and Chinese, he presented his ideas about the symbols of ancient wisdom in numerous essays. This volume includes a selection of his essays on metaphysics that were written in the 1930s and 1940s, when he was at the height of his powers.

„... hra je hraná nie takým spôsobom, ako keď zvyčajne vykonávame ,prácu‘, s cieľom zaistiť si nejaký výsledok, dôležitý pre blaho pracujúceho, ale skôr prekypujúcim spôsobom: pracujúci pracuje kvôli tomu, čo potrebuje, ale hráč hrá, lebo hra vyjadruje jeho bytie. Práca je namáhavá, hra je náročná; práca je vyčerpávajúca, ale hra rekreuje. Najlepším a najviac božským spôsobom života je ,hrať hru‘...“