Living A Creative Life

 

I like to line up my paintings to see what they look like together.  It gives me ideas for the next piece of work.  Experimenting with new colors is one of my favorite things. 

As important as anything in deciding to live a more creative life is to dedicate ample time and space to do creative work.  A "studio" can be anywhere - your kitchen table, a garage or extra bedroom, or any space that you can call your own for part of each day.  By going to that space on a regular basis, you will begin to experience what St. Francis calls, "Small beginnings, greater ends". 

By simply dedicating time each day to being creative you will eventually see progress whether its restoring a piece of old furniture, painting on canvas or writing a poem.  Something will soon begin to bubble up from deep within and you will make the world a richer and more beautiful place.



True Faith

 

"Looking at a flower takes time."  Georgia O'Keefe
Even and especially flowers have the energy of God within.  They too are filled with Buddha nature.

How do we distinguish between popular Buddhism and deep Buddhism? They don't necessarily contradict each other. When we first begin to practice, we might think that the Buddha is a person outside ourselves...one who has reached enlightenment. However, as time passes and we become more aware, we see that the Buddha is something within us. The Buddha is in essence the energy of mindfulness, understanding and compassion. We all have within us the Buddha nature. We all have the ability to wake up and "be" understanding and compassion. The Buddha eventually ceases to be a concept, idea or a notion.

In Christianity, Jesus Christ practiced cultivating the Holy Spirit - the energy of God within. This energy is that of mindfulness, understanding, love, forgiveness and compassion. We can cultivate the Holy Spirit and the energy of God within by remaining mindful in our daily lives just like we cultivate our Buddha nature. The Holy Spirit, God's energy, is always present and infused with understanding, compassion, faith and love.

No matter what our tradition or history, we can all have a direct experience with our true nature, our God nature, our Buddha nature and cease to just talk about it in terms of a notion or concept. We can all be Love, we can be Peace, we can be Understanding, we can be Faith and we can be Compassion.