Facets of a Diamond – Blog
No tune for the composer,
no subject for the painter.
Free! Free! At last.The twentieth century’s
great gift to the Arts.“The reason we find nothing to dislike in the drawings made by children is that in them the inherent nature of man finds expression without being thwarted or frustrated.”
— Soetsu Yanagi
And it is the subject that thwarts and frustrates the painter’s free expression of his inherent nature, his Buddhahood, his
“The reason we find nothing to dislike in the drawings made by children is that in them the inherent nature of man finds expression without being thwarted or frustrated.”* That is to say, they are free to express their Muse, their Souls unrestrained.
But then, “The moment children become self-conscious,
As soon as the music starts, we search for the tune. We must find it, or else we reject the piece as “too modern.”
But what if the very need for a tune is itself a problem? Isn’t the music the equivalent of what is called in art “expressionism”? We have paintings – “modern” – without
If the painting
needs an explanation,
then it’s not realistic
– for life is Untitled.What is Creativity?
1. It is the grateful return of Inspiration as Aspiration.
2. It is the active meditation arising out of the still.
A Zen master who is also a photographer has had published a book of his photographs, each accompanied by a Zen commentary. The book is called Hearing with the Eye.*
I photograph for the viewer not to hear, but to heal. Hopefully, my book could be called Healing with the Eye.
* John Daido Loori (Boston: Shambhala,
“The Infinite exists potentially in every being,”* writes Lafcadio Hearn. (I think he means that it always exists in every being with the potential to be Known.) “That,” he continues, “is the Reality. The other self is a falsity, – a lie, – a mirage.”
The Divinity in every being is called in Japanese Muga-no-taiga, the Great Self without selfishness.