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mythfits — Excellence
Published: 2007-07-10 06:55:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 3633; Favourites: 50; Downloads: 0
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June 2007Pencil on Paper.
5 Panels stitched together in Photoshop.
Photoshop background and some text.
Full View required for details.
His body is his temple.
He is rooted in the rhythms of the earth.
Through the five senses he is illuminated to the possibilities of all things.
Through the five senses he is challenged by the hungers, the desires, and the egoic fears that come with his earthly origins.
He sees, hears, tastes, feels, and smells, the mysteries of his own nature. With practice and ingenuity, he is able to unify the energies of the above and the below.
As human beings, each of us is capable of "excellence." We are endowed with this extraordinary potential, and those who manage the truly awesome feat of being able to sustain a practice will eventually become excellent at what they do. It is a part of the incredible birthright of human existence.
An individual's quest for excellence represents one of the few areas of life where each person has maximum power over the outcome. Success in cultivating excellence through practice is largely a matter of individual wisdom and will. Most of us do not manage to achieve the discipline, sacrifice, and personal mastery that is necessary to sustain a practice. Ongoing practice requires that we overcome the challenges of fear, hunger, and desire.
Maslow's hierarchy, embedded in this image, depicts these steps towards self-actualization. Moving up this hierarchy of growth requires that the preceding levels of need have been resolved. "Mastery," the detail located here: [link] focuses on the the upper half of this hero's journey.
"To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and our passions." - Mohandas K. Gandhi
In the end, mastery is ultimately of self, and excellence becomes a quality of being.
The six pointed star, two interlocking triangles, has wide ranging historical, regional, and ethnic distribution beyond the Jews. It is particularly common in Indic wisdom streams, where it has a variety of correspondences. Of hightened relevance here, is the union of complementary polarities (male and female, for example), the Sri Yantra mandala, and the "six" senses (Hindus will sometimes recognize a sixth sense of something like "intuition" or "inner knowing"). As the senses are the gateways to consciousness, both sacred and mundane, the star is closely associated with learning. More basically, the triangle is itself a powerful cross-cultural symbol, it is an archetype that regularly identifies and organizes three principles. This image is concerned with the integration of two in one- unity from plurality: leg 1) the thing; leg 2) the contrast which makes it known; leg 3) the relationship between the two. From unity, to plurality, to unity, for infinitiy, is implied in the elegant simplicity of a triangle. This triad parallels life's endless motive: separate and alone, two seek union, love. Dissolving into each other, their conjunction gives life to a child who, again alone, seeks to find her own completion and union in the cosmic ocean of undifferentiated boundless love.
We are born of desire, born into desire, and mastering the same, find ourselves in each other.
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Comments: 27
Yep yep......truly, excellence is our birthright, as you say
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Yay!
Good to see another artist here on DA extolling the value of transcendence and personal realisation! The visionary art Ive found here has surpeised and delighted me, is is warming to find so many open and appreciative minds.
I totally dig what youre saying here with this peace - "We are a Communion of Souls. For we are each a soul, a mind, a consciousness, a body of glowing incandescent Light. We are both male and female, whole and complete within ourselves, yet joined in the most deeply intimate communion with every other soul in the Cosmos.
The One Soul is perfect and we play a part in that ongoing process of perfection. The One Soul appeared to become the many and is now becoming the One again, just as we are becoming at one again"
It reminded me of the 'Harmonic Concordance' which was an astrological event back in 2003 where 6 planets aligned with the sun to create a 'Grand Sextlie' as your hexagram (as well as a total lunar eclipse) It was supposed to mark to start of a shift in human consciousness (we observed it on a Ley line on an old hill fort - magical!) [link] [link]
Thanks for sharing your vision!
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Very nice! I love each element intertwining in this
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Thank you for the feedback.
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I just found your gallery - and it seems like one of the rare goldmines of art that one occassionally finds on DA.
This series is just awesome - it is very inspiring, as I have contemplated doing a series of this kind, creating a sort of very direct visual vocabulary, transmuting profound words into images. Will you be expanding this series? Also, having seen your mulahadra work, I am curious if you plan to do all the chakras? That would be fantastic.
The incorporation of lots of words into this drawing is a very bold move, and comes out gracefully (also very inspiring, as I have often considered integrating words into my work, but rarely do). The most significant reason that I am hesitant to do that is it alienates anybody who does not speak the language from some of the meaning of the work. But then again, visual symbols can be just as indecipherable as words in an other language.
It seems you consciously use art as a spiritual practice, as I try to do myself. I respect your work a whole lot for that, as it clearly shows.
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Go for it! Follow your inspiration!
Yes, I am currently engaged in one ongoing interrelated project of self discovery and expression. For me, my life is my art, and my creations along the way are but ritual maps, reflections, and meditations that help to guide me through stormy seas and into greater awareness and appreciation of the present. As I get to know and understand myself better, I am more consciously able to bring my insights and intuitions into focus. Over the last three months, DA has helped me to reawaken a cherished part of my way in the world. I don't know what form it will take, but I'm certain that I will be led towards a deeper of life and its expression through me. At present, I have a larger vision that is guiding me forward.
Regarding the language question... I have spent a great deal of time exploring different versions of this issue. My thoughts right now are that today, more than ever, people hunger for authentic, empathetic, I-thou, connection. I am comfortable using every art tool and creative thought at my disposal to try to bridge the distance between two souls. Words are one very important tool- to not use them, is to use them. There is no escaping their influence. If you remain silent- you convey a message. If you speak up- you convey another message. If you expect that you will be understood in either case, you are likely to be disappointed. Sharing our lives, really sharing them, captivating another with the same wonder, insight, and passion that we ourselves have experienced is as difficult to achieve as it is rewarding.
Creativity is, or at least can be, unity.
And for a moment two strangers have joined together in words around the light of an image.
Thanks for engaging!
- Joshua
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A timeless journey.
Are there many brilliant surrialists like yourself in your city of 8000?
Here on DA it would seem that mysteries, brushing up against mysteries, give rise to even more of the same.
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I can only imagine the many ways that you may have interpreted this.
Peace to you and your family.
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The details are beautiful up close! I espically like the crazy mouths in the hill side. Could you explain some of the symbolism (like the gourds, mouths, ears and stuff?)
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Thank you for looking a bit deeper.
His body is his temple.
He is rooted in the rhythms of the earth.
Through the five senses he is illuminated to the possibilities of all things.
Through the five senses he is challenged by the hungers, the desires, and the egoic fears that come with his earthly origins.
He sees, hears, tastes, feels, and smells, the mysteries of his own nature
and slowly
with practice and ingenuity
he is able to join the above and the below.
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Interesting concept!
The man looks like buddah, but there is a Jewish star in the center. Is it supposed to represent spirituality in general, or is the six pointed star a buddhist symbol also?
(Sorry for asking so many questions. I've been studying mythology and religeon lately.)
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The six pointed star, two interlocking triangles, has wide ranging historical, regional, and ethnic distribution beyond the Jews. It is particularly common in Indic wisdom streams, where it has a variety of correspondences. Of hightened relevance here, is the union of complementary polarities (male and female, for example), the Sri Yantra mandala, and the "six" senses (Hindus will sometimes recognize a sixth sense of something like "intuition" or "inner knowing"). As the senses are the gateways to consciousness, both sacred and mundane, the star is closely associated with learning. More basically, the triangle is itself a powerful cross-cultural symbol, it is an archetype that regularly identifies and organizes three principles. This image is concerned with the integration of two in one- unity from plurality: leg 1) the thing; leg 2) the contrast which makes it known; leg 3) the relationship between the two. From unity, to plurality, to unity, for infinitiy, is implied in the elegant simplicity of a triangle. This triad parallels life's endless motive: separate and alone, two seek union, love. Dissolving into each other, their conjunction gives life to a child who, again alone, seeks to find her own completion and union in the cosmic ocean of undifferentiated boundless love.
We are born of desire, born into desire, and mastering the same, finds ourselves in each other.
While I don't always have time to reply in depth, I do appreciate the interest. There are many layers to contemplate here. The art merely gestures towards deeper engagement with a dialogue about life itself. The art is engagement, a meditation on and with that dialogue. For most of human history art has not been a product, but rather, a process designed to reawaken and transmit the mysteries of life and the wisdom of a people. There are still many artists and visionaries who are sustaining this practice as they learn from the old ways and create anew.
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thanks for explaining so much
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