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, actions we can take, 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.

The Teachers
Rebekah Younger, author of Be, Awake, Create: Mindful Practices to Spark Creativity, is also an accomplished multidisciplinary artist and educator. She has taught Shambhala Art programs and contemplative photography for 14 years with a Masters in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College in contemplative art practices. You can see her work at rebekahyounger.com

Miriam Hall is a contemplative arts teacher based out of Madison, Wisconsin. She has taught Miksang Contemplative Photography, Contemplative Writing, and Shambhala Art for the last fifteen years; she is also an instructor with Karuna Training Contemplative Psychology. She can be found online at www.herspiral.com.

PREREQUISITE: Shambhala Art Parts 1 - 4

REQUIRED TEXT: True Perception by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche