Creating originally Enlightened Artwork Using Basic Concepts of Zen Buddhism
The teachings of Buddhism and it's Taoist roots are far too diverse to speak of in this article alone , so let me attempt to relate some of my understanding and interpretations of it's precepts and their relation to the making of photographs. Let me first lay a disclaimer in place, I do not claim to be a Buddhist nor am I an expert of it's teachings, although what I do understand of Zen Buddhism touches me deeply and guides my actions most of the time. Buddhism reaches from the depths of the ancient dynasties of Asia and into the modern Western World, where it's heart beats firm and true among its practitioners. There are several schools of thought, many and varied paths to walk, and even more tenets among the forms of Buddhism that have arisen over the millennia. Studying more and more of them they espouse similar and parallel theories, practices and virtues that seem to lead to several goals, enlightenment, impermanence, selflessness, cause and effect, and the fact that nothing is lost in the universe. To present my understanding of Zen Buddhism and it's relation to my photography as a Sacred Art I will have to show some examples of images I made and their relation to three basic precepts that affect me deeply in my Photography, morality and discipline, concentration, meditation and wisdom or insight. Because these understandings that have arisen over a lifetime of making Art, the Ten Paramita of Buddhism take on particular and significant meaning to me, they are:
1. Giving or generosity
2. Virtue, ethics, morality
3. Renunciation, letting go, not grasping
4. Wisdom and insight
5. Energy, vigour, vitality, diligence
6. Patience or forbearance
7. Truthfulness
8. Resolution, determination, intention
9. Kindness, love, friendliness
10. Equanimity.
Embracing these virtues in my life have assisted in releasing the most hindering and destructive delusions in life,these being ignorance,The Four Sublime states can be found; 1. Equanimity (upekkha) 2. Loving-kindness (metta) 3. Compassion (karuna) 4. Sympathetic joy (mudita) and last but not least, four very important reminders will come to light; 1. Human life is precious. 2. Death is inevitable 3. The laws of karma cannot be avoided. 4. Suffering permeates all existence.
Have there been times when creating a piece of artwork you have reached a state of complete focus, a state of "being" in the moment, with no past and no future but merely the moment? Have you felt as if you have become "one" and reached a state of deep insight and wisdom? Have you become aware of what morality means in your life and how it affects the world as we know it? Personally I have achieved this through meditation and astral projection, yet have as often reached a state of unattachment, deep awareness and realization of the "True Self" through photography and the experiences that led me to make those images. Some may argue this is exactly the opposite of these conditions, as one would be completely attached to the subject photographed, that we would be imposing our subjectivity upon it and thereby become immersed in a state of selfishness and imposed meaning. By showing you a series of images made over the years, I would like to show just why it is possible to gain insight into one's true nature (Rinzai) following the path of thought away from subjectivity, allowing those thoughts to arise and pass with no interference of Ego. In my personal experience, as well as in the opinion of many of my peers, photography or any form of art is able to bring about the three main trainings of Buddhist; morality/discipline, concentration or meditation, and wisdom leading to Insight.
1. Moral discipline or morality (Sila)