Nicholas Roerich

What is the Absolute? Does God exist?

He does not theorise about God: he speaks of Beauty, Knowledge and the mahatmas

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich left no explicit doctrine of the Absolute. His essays in Shambhala, Altai-Himalaya or Heart of Asia speak of Beauty as a ray of understanding and elevation, of Knowledge, of the mahatmas said to have lived in Sikkim and of the expectation of Maitreya, and they treat Orthodox saints, Tibetan Buddhism and Hindu traditions with equal respect. The question of God's nature is, in his work, absorbed into a religiosity of culture and sacred landscape. The metaphysical formulation of the family circle belongs to Agni Yoga, written down by his wife Helena and presented as dictated by the mahatma Morya; ascribing that theology to Nicholas would go beyond what he signed.

Who am I? Is there a true self?

He left no doctrine of the self; his work looks to culture and landscape

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich did not address the question of the self systematically. His books of essays and travel diaries, such as Altai-Himalaya, Heart of Asia or Shambhala, collect legends, conversations with lamas and reflections on art, beauty and peace, but do not propose an anthropology. He shares with his wife the general framework of Theosophy and Agni Yoga, in which the human being is a soul evolving through many lives, and he mentions Asian beliefs in rebirth as a matter of course; but that doctrine is formulated in Helena's books, not in his. The nearest thing to an answer of his own is his insistence that the human being is raised by beauty and culture, which he considers the way to the best in oneself.

Why do we suffer?

Ignorance and the destruction of culture breed war and pain

Social and moral disorderInferred from their doctrine

Nicholas Roerich did not elaborate a theory of individual suffering, but he did offer a diagnosis of collective pain. A witness of the First World War and the revolution, he attributed barbarism to ignorance and to the loss of the sense of beauty and the sacred, and saw in culture, which he understood as the cult of light, the remedy against violence. From that conviction arose his campaign for an international treaty protecting monuments, museums and scientific institutions in wartime, with the Banner of Peace as its emblem, signed in 1935 as the Roerich Pact. His essays, gathered in books such as Banner of Peace, repeat that where culture degrades, hatred and destruction grow. Suffering is, in his work, above all a disorder of civilisation.

What happens after death?

He wrote no doctrine of the afterlife; he leaves it to Agni Yoga

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich devoted no writings of his own to explaining what happens after death. In his travel diaries through Central Asia he records with interest Tibetan and Mongolian beliefs about rebirth, reincarnated lamas and subtle worlds, and his painting often depicts saints, ascetics and heavenly dwellings; but these are the materials of a chronicler and an artist, not a systematic teaching. The doctrinal framework in which the family moved, that of Theosophy and Agni Yoga, teaches reincarnation according to karma and life in the subtle and fiery worlds, and it is formulated in the books Helena Roerich wrote down. Ascribing that doctrine to him as a position he wrote would go beyond what his texts allow us to state.

How is liberation or salvation attained?

He does not speak of personal salvation: his horizon is raising human culture

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich formulated no doctrine of liberation or individual salvation. His essays speak of elevation, of ascent towards light and of a better future, which he associates with the coming of Maitreya and the tradition of Shambhala, but that hope is collective and bound up with culture, beauty and peace among peoples. Labour, simplicity and fearlessness appear as virtues of the way, and beauty as a ray of understanding, without being ordered into a method. The disciplines of thought and heart the family followed are set out in Agni Yoga, written down by Helena Roerich. His painting and writings prefer to show the horizon rather than trace the path.

Is a teacher necessary?

He reveres the Asian figure of the Teacher and the mahatmas of the Himalaya

IndispensableInferred from their doctrine

In his travel books and essays, Nicholas Roerich treats with reverence the relation between teacher and disciple as he saw it in India, Tibet and Mongolia, and proposes it as a model against Western individualism. His pages on Sikkim recall that the mahatmas were said to have been there, and the Central Asian Expedition was presented in part as a mission connected with them; Helena and he regarded themselves as disciples of the mahatma Morya, from whom the teaching of Agni Yoga was said to come. He also admired the Russian saintly teachers, such as Sergius of Radonezh, whom he painted repeatedly. His work sets out no theory of initiation, but it takes for granted that the highest knowledge is received from those who guard it and is not improvised.

Is the world real?

Behind the visible mountains lies a subtler reality: Shambhala

Planes of existenceInferred from their doctrine

Nicholas Roerich's painting and writing present the visible world as the veil of a subtler one. His Himalayan pictures, with almost transparent mountains and figures of saints and messengers, and his books Shambhala and Heart of Asia, which gather Tibetan and Mongolian legends about a hidden kingdom of sages, suggest a reality in planes, in which the highest exists but reveals itself only to those who are prepared. In Altai-Himalaya he also records phenomena he interpreted as signs of that other reality. He built no cosmology of his own: the framework of planes of existence he takes from Theosophy and Agni Yoga. His contribution is that of an artist who sought to show the invisible through the visible, without denying the latter its beauty and worth.

What is love?

He left no reflection of his own on love; he speaks of beauty, peace and brotherhood

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich did not write on love as a theme of its own. His essays insist on related values, beauty that unites, peace among peoples, respect for the work and culture of others, the brotherhood of those who seek the light, and his campaign for the Pact that bears his name can be read as a form of care for humanity's common heritage. But his books contain no doctrine of love like those of the mystics or the philosophers of his generation, nor any reflection on personal love. Agni Yoga, written down by his wife, treats the heart and love as energy, and its book Brotherhood develops the idea of community, but these are Helena's texts, not Nicholas's.

Are we free, or is everything determined?

He did not address the question; his work speaks of duty, labour and fearlessness

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich did not write on the problem of freedom and determinism. His essays constantly urge action, work, fearlessness and the building of a better future, which presupposes a practical confidence in the human capacity to choose and transform one's surroundings; and his idea that the past is good as long as it does not hinder the future expresses that orientation. At the same time, he shares with Theosophy and Agni Yoga the belief in a cosmic plan and in the law of karma, which his wife sets out in the books she wrote down. There is no attempt in his writings to articulate the two, nor any reflection on individual destiny. The question lies outside his field, which is culture.

Why meditate or pray?

He painted ascetics and saints, but did not write on prayer or meditation

Did not address it

Nicholas Roerich depicted many people at prayer in his painting: Saint Sergius of Radonezh, Himalayan ascetics, Tibetan monks, lamas in meditation. In his travel diaries he describes Central Asian monasteries, rites and practices with respect. But he left no reflection of his own on the meaning of prayer or meditation, nor did he prescribe practices. His essays suggest that the contemplation of beauty, nature and art raises the human being, and that the thought of beauty is so powerful it cannot be kept in silence, but that idea does not become a doctrine of prayer. The indications on communion with the Master and the discipline of the heart belong to Agni Yoga, written down by his wife.

Can reason know the ultimate?

Beauty and knowledge united; the highest knowledge is kept by hidden sages

Esoteric knowledgeInferred from their doctrine

Nicholas Roerich placed great value on knowledge: he was an archaeologist, founded educational and scientific institutions, such as the Himalayan research institute Urusvati, and in his essays joined science, art and spirituality in a single quest. In Heart of Asia he notes that in Asia, if one speaks in the name of Beauty and Knowledge, one is immediately asked which Beauty and which Knowledge: not just any learning, but the kind that elevates. His books on Shambhala gather the tradition of a kingdom of sages who guard a higher knowledge, and he regarded himself as the bearer of a teaching received from the mahatmas. He wrote no theory of knowledge, but his work assumes that ultimate knowledge exists, is transmitted and can be verified through inner experience.

Withdraw from the world or transform it?

Peace through culture: the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace

Engage with the worldStated explicitly

Nicholas Roerich made cultural action his way of transforming the world. From 1929 he promoted an international treaty to protect monuments, museums and scientific and artistic institutions in time of war and peace, with its own emblem, the Banner of Peace: three spheres within a circle. The Roerich Pact was signed in Washington in 1935 by some twenty American countries and is one of the precedents of the Hague Convention of 1954. His essays, gathered in books such as Banner of Peace or Fiery Stronghold, argue that culture is the path to peace among peoples. He also founded museums, schools and a research institute in the Himalaya. His spirituality did not draw him away from the world: it committed him to the preservation of its beauty.