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SHAMBHALA ART

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Genuine art tells the truth. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Shambhala Art is the essence of enlightened society, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

To artist or non-artist, the creative process often seems mysterious and magical. How do we give a physical reality to our inspiration so it communicates its essential nature? Shambhala Art’s purpose is to explore the creative process and the product we call art, from the viewpoint of a meditative discipline. It is a viewpoint that encourages us to see things as they are, rather than just how we think or imagine they are. Shambhala Art does not teach a particular skill or technique such as painting, sculpture, or dance. It is about the source of inspiration, its manifestation, and how it speaks to us beyond the limits of its container. Once a view and a path are established it can be put into practice within any artistic discipline. Although the Shambhala Art teachings are inspired by Shambhala Buddhism, they are not in any way religious or about adopting a religion. They are about discovery and play, and the universal nature of creativity and communication.

Shambhala Art can be seen as a process, a product, and an arts education program. As a process, it brings wakefulness and awareness to the creative and viewing processes through the integration of contemplation and meditation. As a product, it is art that wakes people up. Shambhala Art is also an international non-profit arts education program based on the Dharma Art teachings of the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of Shambhala Buddhism, Shambhala International, and Naropa Institute. He was an artist, poet, and author of over a dozen books on subjects ranging from psychology to iconography. Volume 7 of the Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche focuses specifically on his Dharma Art teachings. Shambhala Art is a division of Shambhala International and is presided over by his son and heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. This program is taught by trained and authorized Shambhala Art teachers.

Without seeing things as they are, it is hard to create art. Our perceptions are obscured and our mind is not fresh, so making art becomes a troubled, futile process by which we’re trying to create something based on concept. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Introductory talk "What is Shambhala Art" given at the January 2007 Intensive by Steven Saitzyk and Marcia Shibata. 18 Minutes, MP3 format. 4MB.

"Art as Crazy Wisdom" given on 11/20/07 by Steven Saitzyk, comparing Buddhist iconography and contemporary western art. 35Minutes, 16MB, MP3. Art as Crazy Wisdom slideshow. 5MB.

The Five-Part Program

Part One: Coming to Your Senses

The practice of dharma art is a way to use our lives to communicate without confusion the primordial and magical nature of what we see, hear, and touch. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

First thought is best in art. Wm. Blake

The creative process has more to do with perception than talent. The creative process requires that we first perceive our world as it is before we can represent it in some form or use it as a launching pad for expression. Meditation helps this process by clarifying our perceptions, relaxing our relentless self-dialoguing, and revealing the source of creativity. We also learn through meditation that we can rest in “square one,” a state of mindfulness and awareness where our mind, body, and environment are synchronized and self-expression can transform into pure-expression. Photos

Part Two: Seeing Things as They Are

The map is not the territory. Alfred Korzbyski

The truth of the thing is not the think of it but the feel of it. Stanley Kubrick

One eye sees, the other feels. Paul Klee

Symbol, in this sense, is not a “sign” representing some philosophical or religious principle; it is the demonstration of the living qualities of what is. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Through meditation we come to see things as they are as opposed to how we think they are. We discover that everything has a felt presence to it as well as a thought sense that we bring to it. What we create and perceive communicates through signs, which are primarily about information; and symbols, which are primarily about presence. Seeing the difference between the two as well as how they work together empowers our creative and viewing processes. Photos

Part Three: The Creative Process

The eye of desire dirties and distorts. Only when we desire nothing, only when our gaze becomes pure contemplation, does the soul of things (which is beauty) open itself to us. Hermann Hesse

There is such a thing as unconditional expression that does not come from self or other. It manifests out of nowhere like mushrooms in a meadow, like hailstones, like thundershowers. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The creative process can be a form of meditation-in-action when it begins with coming to our senses and arriving at “square one.” We do this naturally when we unconditionally face a blank piece of paper, an empty stage, an idle instrument, or an unplanted garden and allow inspiration to naturally arise out of that space. If that inspiration is met with mindfulness and awareness, it can be built into a result that has a life and energy of its own. The creative process is only half of the equation; the balance is an awakened viewing process that provides the means to fully perceive what is being communicated. Photos

Part Four: The Power of Display

The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. –Paul Strand

As we explore things as they are, we find them in many shapes, colors, and patterns that suggest connections to the seasons, emotions, truths, and wisdoms. Cultures throughout history have developed systems to merge their intuitive experience with their collective knowledge and display it through their arts. In Part Four we focus on one of the most universal systems, the five elements: earth, water, fire, air (wind), and space, and how they form a Gestalt, mandala, or interconnected dynamic display. In learning the nature of these elements, we also learn about ourselves and our unique means of expression and how in spite of all our differences there is some universality to our communication. Photos

Part Five: Art in Everyday Life

Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction. Pablo Picasso

Some feel that if an idea or inspiration is clear, or pure, then whatever is produced will automatically be the same. However, the gap between inspiration and manifestation can be huge and filled with obstacles, negativity, and self-consciousness. The five elements not only describe our world and our experience, but four of them offer means to work with these challenges: Pacifying (water), Enriching (earth), Magnetizing (fire), and Destroying (wind. These four actions are used in everyday life, as well as the creative process, as the vehicles for compassionate action and pure expression where obstacles become challenges and negativity is transformed into greater vision and truth. Photos

Activities for Graduates

In select cities there are salons and field trips for graduates of the program where these teachings are explored further and put in to practice. One of the goals is to explore how Shambhala Art connects with contemporary art and the principals of beauty and aesthetics. Future projects will involve artist retreats that will include time for one’s creative process, or studio time, contemplation, mediation and salon style discussion. One of our goals includes establishing a retreat center and accomplishing large scale group installations based on the principles of Shambhala Art.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to firstthought@shambhalaart.org

This page was last updated on 06/15/09

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