the clearest, smoothest image has a lot of mess behind it.
the mess in itself is equally beautiful, if you open your mind to see it just as it is, shapes and colours without judgment.
is beautiful not also a judgement?
not necessarily. like everything it has two sides or maybe it would be more accurate to say two spirits. in the spirit of mental judgement, there's beautiful or ugly, splitting things into categories which direct how we should value them and feel about them.
in the wholebody spirit of being, though, beautiful is a state of heightened awareness and noticing, a state of receptivity that feels good, that covers all kinds of mess and disorder, those same colours that were on the painting, spilled and wiped at random, without tension, without imposed order, just as they are.
what has this got to do with meditation?
meditation (as i practice it) is the move from the first spirit of judgement that governs the mind, into an awareness of all the mental mess, that noticing, and then a letting-go into the spirit of being and the spirit of beautiful. it's a naturally arising letting-go, not one that can be planned or forced. that spirit includes all things in the mind, and makes it seem like a dynamic, colourful painting with its own order. the mind, in this spirit, also stops judging itself as a separate thing from the whole of life.
and you continue to wipe the brushes, and to paint the painting. would love to see you there
if you want to meditate and paint with me, and a small group of like-minded souls, please consider coming to the august 2023 body and soul regeneration retreat!
would love to see you there
Comments