The stories of Layla Majnun in medieval Islam and The Gitagovinda in Hinduism are examples of classic love stories replete with spiritual symbolism.
"It is sometimes forgotten that the wisdom of the ages is not only enshrined in the Scriptures of the integral traditions, but in the expressive forms of any traditional culture – music, dance, costume, poetry, painting, and architecture, to name but a few. The animating principle of any traditional civilisation shines forth from a Revelation which irradiates every aspect of life of the people in question. In such a world there is no fundamental distinction between “religion” and the rest of life, and there is no cultural production which lies outside the ambit of religion. Every aspect of the culture not only expresses the ethnic genius of that human collectivity but carries the spiritual fragrance of the Revelation which is its wellspring."
- Harry Odmeadow
Source: Unveiling the Garden of Love: Mystical Symbolism in Layla Majnun and Gita Govinda by Lalita Sinha, see Foreward
Notes
* A civilisation which is still rooted in immutable principles has often produced works of art that are of a timeless character. "Humanistic art is able to convey only individualistic inspirations or at best something of the collective psyche to which the individual artist belongs. Such art is always time bound, dated and soon outdated "
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Source: Knowledge and the Sacred, page 258
* "Culture builds the ceiling of religion higher" - Shaykh Bada Hakim Murad
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