Bô Yin Râ, "Spirit and Form". Summary of the book "Geist und Form", with small hermeneutic.

As an artist and spiritualist, as a master who demanded great perfection in his life and work, both in painting (as you can see in this article) and in writing, with some books worked and remodelled until they reached the best form of inner spiritual transmission, Bô Yin Râ (1876-1943, and you'll find plenty about him on this blog) had to clarify, from the perspective of the Spiritual path, aspects and issues related to the use of objects, clothes, forms, instruments, houses, as well as the main emotions, happiness and unhappiness, joy and pain.
It was in a small book published for the first time in 1925, Geist und Form, or Spirit and Form, divided into six chapters, that Bô Yin Râ addressed the relationship between this duality, which often tends to be unbalanced or disharmonised, even with "good" intentions and detachment.

 

In Chapter I, entitled The Question, Bô Yin Râ tries to awaken people who are, or want to be, on the spiritual path to the importance of better harmonising their relationship with the world of forms or matter, reminding those who despise material forms or coverings, that without them, spirits would not be able to express themselves fully, so we must surround ourselves with forms that are transparent to this lofty goal, even stating: "just as a precious wine is not served in mediocre clay jugs, for that would be to insult its quality, in the same way the simple respect due to the spirit demands that you only be satisfied with the most perfect form, from the moment you want to become a temple of the Spirit. Your outward behaviour must incessantly testify to this respect," so even your outward appearance must manifest this and inspire it in others. There is therefore a goal or objective to be achieved in the inner form, in the soul, to be a temple of the Spirit, to respect it and manifest it with the appropriate forms and means. 

                                        

In Chapter II, Exterior and Interior, Bô Yin Râ shows that the exterior always has an interior and that this interior is even linked to an even deeper and more spiritual interior, but that all levels imply forms in order to be perceived by us, and that everything around us invites us to go deeper than mere appearances. And if we constantly attempt this quest, we will be presented with the revelation of the essences of things and beings.
He therefore warns that every "form of the inner world is always an expression of something arch-interior, which would never exist for you if you didn't discern it in yourself as a form", and so this discernment of the interior expressed by forms will be the best way for us to be able to find the deep inside in the forms of the spiritual world, even in the post-mortem world.
Forms will not be disregarded in this way, nor will those that are already in disuse, such as clothing, be pretentiously used. Care must also be taken in rejecting social forms, such as the institution of marriage, which, although it is possible to make a mistake in the choice, is still valid in order to avoid "starting to uproot everything that humanity had planted in order not to succumb to the storm of misguided instincts and uncontrolled passions."

In Chapter III, The House and its Decoration, Bô Yin Râ urges us to value more our influence on the house, whether we build it ourselves, give the plans to those who will build it, or mould it, adapt it, impregnate it, because what counts most is "the way you make this space your own".
Recognising the energies and the patina or aura of objects that have already come to us from other people, "the way you use the old, today in the external decoration of your life, will always give the objects a new value that can only emanate from you", thus valuing our participation, even affirming that everything around us should receive a share of our love, and no detail in the house should escape our attention, awareness and love. In his book Cult Magic and Myth, he explains how certain objects that are energetically charged by us become talismans, that fortify us, especially in times of greatest need.
For Bô Yin Râ, the home should be an oasis, a place where everything transmits or "impels us to joy and a warm, pure spiritual joy". And even those who have little money must ensure that there is harmony and dignity in the order and decoration of their home or workplace.
In other words, after any negative situation, when you get home you should be able to "quickly return to yourself and to your highest level", because the objects that surround you "will remind you of the best aspects of your sensitivity, they will speak to you from within your own universe, they will bring you calm and serenity". We can therefore add that in these minimalist times of post-modernity, cutting down on the objects of ancestors or friends, the belittling of such objects from the past or associated with sentimental memories, ends up weakening the protection of the aura of both our home and soul...
And he asks a remarkable question: "You who want to perceive inwardly the voice of the eternal Spirit, how can you bear to be surrounded by things that want to look like what they are not - that are like an insult to the law of form?"
And this law is that "any form is always a symbol, an integral part of a language that has something to say".
For those who want to be a temple of the Spirit, all elements or utensils incompatible with this quality or dignity must be removed: "Be vigilant so as to surround yourself only with objects for which you will one day be able to answer to the Spirit you seek to find in yourself."
And since the Spirit you want to unite with "is harmony, purity, light and truth", you should surround yourself with forms that you feel to be true and pure, excluding what in its form reveals itself to be "not true, or that becomes false because it does not harmonise with your sensibility".

In Chapter IV, The Form of Joy, Bô Yin Râ reminds us that we must know how to give form, limits and control to our instincts and passions, if we want to cross this high sea of waves and storms and reach a safe harbour.
Rather than getting lost in our joys, we must shape them nobly, according to our individuality and eternal specificity, and we must also know how to respect the joys of others, in whatever form they deserve, but without them, or what they think of ourselves, determining us on our path of realization of the plane of our life and its joys.
In Chapter V, Form of Suffering, Bô Yin Râ develops the same idea of giving form not to joy but to pain in such a way that it becomes bearable. The method is to accept it at that moment as being "clearly linked to the form of life that corresponds most closely to us - as being unable to be otherwise" and then go on to overcome it.
Thanks to the formative action of the Spirit, and a devaluation or even belittling of pain, both physical and moral, we end up not allowing ourselves to be defeated or overcome by it: "You must rise above it and learn to command it.
You are what remains. Pain is ephemeral and it lies when it tries to make you believe in its durability. 
You must truly value yourself more than suffering, for it is in yourself that the radiant and shining light of the Spirit wants to reveal itself to you."

In the sixth and final chapter, Art of Living, Bô Yin Râ argues that life, although made up of materials that are given to us, depends on us through the way we look at them, accept them and work with them, and according to the internal plan or project of our life that our soul grasps or perceives. Something that in India was called, we might add, swadharma, the personal mission or duty, in the general Dharma or planetary Order.
So if "every earthly day brings you new material with which you can build your spiritual life in an artistic way.
However, it is up to you to work the raw material in such a way that it adapts to the sublime project that your soul discovers in the depths of itself."
In this way, faced with what each day brings us, we must ask ourselves how we can quickly shape it so that it serves our subtle spiritual temple.
For this task of intuiting and following the plan of our spiritual life requires, Bo Yin Râ challenges us, "that as soon as you hear these words of mine, you should begin to search the innermost vault of your soul for the building plan.
It is in a safe place and you will discover it if you look for it with all the calm that comes from complete certainty.
It's not a hasty search that will get you there.
And once you've found it, get down to work and stay faithful to the task at hand."
It is during the work of building and realising our life's mission or project that we become more aware of the plan and we become more confident as we see (or feel) what we carry (or have) within us and then, according to this self-confidence, help will come, without us knowing exactly from whom.
These greater aids and impulses for this spiritual artistic work will come because: "There, in the depths of your being, they will know how to guide you towards a higher art - the art of modelling spiritual life according to the law inherent in the eternal Spirit". And all of us who meditate or pray know well how intuitions and inspirations enlighten us in those moments...
"Whatever your outer life brings you, try to take advantage of it spiritually, endeavouring to give it a spiritual form, and soon, thanks to such wise spiritual activity, you will remove from your path many of the obstacles that seemed insurmountable to you."
"Your outer life will be transformed according to the image of your spiritual life, to the extent that you know how to spiritually form everything that is external to you"
And he concludes the book by saying, far above and deeper than the advocates of mindfulness and formlessness: "In every form, the Spirit is at work."

May this short summary of yet another valuable work by Bô Yin Râ help people to free themselves from so much illusion and  occult, kabbalistic, new age, esoteric and yogic mystifications that abounds in so many countries, with pseudo-masters, sects, groups and fashions which in reality are often very little in the quest for the Grail of Truth and the awareness and union of Spirit and Divinity, which we hope will be more fully realised by you, dear reader...