According to N. Roerich communion of children to understanding of High Reality is closely connected with teaching of life ethics: “When we speak about living ethics which should become a favourite subject, then we address to each modern heart asking it to expand at least to the scales of Ancient testaments”. Which are they? We speak about the great concept of God in different cultures beginning from Unknown God of Ancient Greeks who headed the Pantheon. Nicholas Roerich forms the concept of course on history of spiritual culture of the mankind which should show continuity of the Sacred Notion uniting all cultural epochs: “the same sacred fire … spelled out fire Testaments of Sinai hermits. The same sacred fire created precious images of St. Teresa, St. Francis, St. Sergiy and fathers of Benevolence who knew a lot and in the end were not understood”. Roerich stated: “These great people were not something abstract, living only in mind; no, they lived in the very heart as something alive, life-bearing, inalienable and ineradicable”.
The art allows to perceive this life-bearing and it reflects the Highest. N. Roerich repeats again and again the definition of art given by R.Tagore and close to his own one: “In art out inner essence responds to the Highest who represents himself in the world of Unlimited Beauty over the colourless world of facts”. “ We spoke about introduction of ethics and course devoted to the art of thinking in school. Both of these subjects are useless without learning general feeling of beauty. And again high living esthetic notions will become dead if they are not saturated with beauty”.
At the same time he highlights the other rule referring to the statement of S.Vivekananda “…A person who is not able to feel true beauty and greatness of art cannot be called genuinely religious”.
Finally all true ways of Culture, first and foremost, its 3 main notions lead to cognition of the Highest – is N. Roerich’s conclusion: “It’s true that Beauty is a Brahman, Art is a Brahmanand Science is a Brahman” he cites an exclamation of an Indian saint who passed through the greatest revelation.
The meaning of cultural education particularly increases during any crises. “When bases of life wisdom shake in front of us isn’t it a sign that these materialistic bases have reached some limit and are eliminated?
When if not now children’s hearts should be burned with witnesses of deed, true education and cognition? Probably the time when it is urgent to feel family difficulties and based on all historical examples point out actual overcoming capacities of multiple crises faced by the history of humanity has not come yet” – wrote Nicholas Roerich.
During the Second World War, in July 1942 Nicholas Roerich wrote: “Culture is suffering. But what can be done? Where is a mistake? The thing is that it is necessary to study, study, study! To learn, learn, learn! Not only in primary school but through the life. One should love this life-long education…”