Art As A Spiritual Practice

Too often, I think that people expect anything spiritual to be amazing, larger than life. They expect it to be like being struck by lightning—some sort of big flash and then your life is changed forever. But it's rarely like that. Yes, while there can be spiritual  ecstasy , most spiritual breakthroughs are rather ordinary.  My teacher, Singal Rinpoche, has a favorite saying, “You must strive to become enlightened everyday,” because even after you attain enlightenment, that is only in that present moment. You go on with your day, live your life, and the next day it starts all over again, even the enlightenment. So some days we are enlightened, and some days we are not. As artists, we need to realize that some days we will create great art, and on others, not so great art. We get up in the morning, go about our work, go to sleep at night, then get up and repeat it all again. Some days will be amazing. Some will be ordinary. Yet we still get up each morning. But th...

Mindfulness is a buzz word today, but like the word, meditation , it's also a much misunderstood.  In its essence, mindfulness is paying attention . That's it. I know, it sounds simple, and it is, but it's also a lot more difficult to do than we can imagine.  Electronic Monkey Mind Paying attention, not wandering in your thoughts. But we live in a world of constant distraction: phones, computers, cable/satellite TV, the internet, and on and on. We are often over scheduled and underwhelmed. As much as our modern electronic world keeps us connected, it also distracts us. Think of all the concerts where people watch the show on the cell phone they hold up in front of themselves, instead of watching the actual performance. Talk about distraction.  Or think about all the times you are involved in your practice and your phone rings or beeps. Do you stop and answer it, or do you keep going. And if you keep going, are you distracted by the thought of who ...

Are you ever good enough? Does doing your best in any situation really mean anything? These are important questions we artists often ask ourselves. I think it's important to acknowledge these questions, but also to distance ourselves from them in order to look at them objectively. It's all too easy to get caught up in emotions when applying these to ourselves. Good enough is such a subjective idea. Good enough for who or what? I feel that it is important to realize that we can only do the best we can at any given point in time. Today's best may be different than yesterday's. Things are fluid. We all have good days and bad days. The important thing is to stick with your practice. Stay on the path. If you have rituals that you do, keep doing them. If you meditate, keep meditating. If you run or work out, keep running or working out. Keep following your path. Self Realization You need to realize that every moment of your life is different from every other one. ...