Art as a means of spiritual elevation
by Yonten Rabje
"Art is the most rapid vehicle, after prayer,
for connecting directly with one's Buddha-nature."
Yönten is
a Buddhist monk living at Samye Ling Tibetan Centre where, in retreat, he began
to draw and paint for the first time in his life, and soon developed a passion
for his art work. He describes himself as a man obsessed with faces, seeing them
in every object, never wasting any materials. His pictures, painted stones and
wax creations are annotated with profound messages, often humorous, many reflecting
his own Buddhist philosophy on existence. He exhibits his work in his Art Shed
where he lives, with any proceeds going to ROKPA, a charity that provides humanitarian
aid to remote rural areas of Tibet.
I lived an entire life until yesterday
according to the dominant aesthetic and philosophical principle of our western
culture, namely, that "Art is an aim in itself". This principle aims
to protect the independence and freedom of Art and the Artist. So far, no problem!
In Italy we also say this in a more concrete way: "Art doesnt recognise an
owner or a banner, still less any borders". But Art is not only a means of
free expression; Art is also a means of satisfaction, otherwise it is not living.
Slowly, slowly it becomes arid in its content and in the long term it dies out.
Because Art, unlike other means of intellectual production, is an activity that
is essentially of the spirit, or of our Buddha-nature. The spirit does not feed
on bread alone: it lives on feelings. So, when one's feelings are unpleasant or
even neutral, the spirit is out of matter and matter alone is heavy and flat.
The absence in the Artist of a spiritual life prevents him from seeing the presence
of the spirit outside him.
I first encountered Buddhism only eight years
ago in Spain while on a bike tour from Italy to Morocco. At that time I entered
the Gelupa Buddhist community (based on the tradition of the Dalai Lama) in the
Sierra Nevada and began to practice this faith because it gave me a reason to
live. After 6 months I came to Britain to learn English. From London I travelled
with my bike to Scotland where I knew of another Buddhist community, Samye Ling
- the kajupa monastery and Tibetan Centre in Eskdalemuir, Dumfriesshire. Eighteen
months after my arrival I entered the 4-year retreat. Some 6 months later my mind
began to have visions, and I began to paint. This was how my visionary art first
began - at the considerable age of 59 years old! After coming out of retreat I
opened an exhibition of my visionary art at Samye Ling, in support of our charitable
trust, the Rokpa Trust, which helps Tibetan communities.
If the motivation
is pure, as one creates Art in order to express oneself, then the maxim "Art
is an aim in itself" automatically becomes a means of spiritual elevation
because the Artist is genuine and sincere, and this, sooner or later, becomes
conducive to practicing a faith (whether one already has one or encounters a new
one). Of course, Art created in this way is enormously satisfying. If it is not
so, it is because the Artist uses his or her Art just to achieve fame, money or
success, enslaving his Art to those passions which he has to liberate in order
to be happy or satisfied with himself.
The observations I have described
here are not an intellectual deduction about myself. Rather they are the fruit
of personal experience, extraordinary in itself. Every time I am so-called ³creative²,
whether through my painting or through something else, I observe that there are
some points of spontaneous origination, which always surprise me because of their
perfect correspondence with the basic idea of my work. It is exactly in such moments
that I kneel down and thank my Buddha-nature because it has let me both conceive
and realise my artwork without my own conscious knowledge. I have no technical
skills. I had never painted or even held a brush before in my life. (As in all
my activities I remain an outsider, or an "autodidact", as I prefer
to define myself).This spontaneous origination happens every time I have an empty
mind, that is, when I find myself in front of a so-called "white page"
or blank canvas. (An empty mind in our relative world is not to be confused with
an Enlightened mind, which reaches emptiness. The latter is a mind full of wisdom
and awareness, the former is the opposite: a mind which is as ignorant as the
"I" mind.)
There is no artist in the world who hasn't experienced
in his or her life the terror of "the white page"! It is also said that
there is no poem better than that of the "white page" because it expresses
the silence which is the most perfect form of our spirit or Buddha-nature and
which is so hard to find within oneself. "Silence?" exclaims the poor
perplexed Artist, who is as ordinary as any other sentient being in the world
(and a potential Buddha). Instead of relaxing and meditating on it, he contracts
his mind and becomes depressed. In a desperate attempt to create something, he
tries to fill that terrifying white page¹ or blank canvas as best he can,
even if it is only with dirty marks or daubs, in the hidden hope of receiving
the message which will provide the key to the entire work. Here it comes spontaneously,
but where does it come from? The self doesn¹t know exactly, but it knows
from experience that it will happen.
In Buddhism, we know it comes from Emptiness,
which is itself Form and vice versa. The presence of faith within the Artist is
essential because Art itself is a magic activity of the spirit. This is why I
say art is the most rapid way, after prayer, to connect with our selves.
The
next day or even a long time afterwards, when perhaps he has totally forgotten
that awful scribbling, coming across it accidentally or not, he screams out at
the miracle! The daubed picture, or the simple outlined motif or poem, now speaks
to him and he begins to compose the spreading signals in a harmonic composition,
until perhaps he comes to create his so-called masterpiece.
This is the power
of meditation. It clears the mind of the emotional clouds, like those of the Scottish
sky, letting the sunshine of one's Buddha-nature, or spirit, shine through.Some
will ask themselves why one should even distinguish this, when it is enough simply
to be grateful for the received gift and amen! This is the moment in which one
has to bow one's head, and ask for forgiveness for one's pride having allowed
one¹s unconscious to dare so much; or on the contrary, for having doubted
that one were capable of conceiving that initial scribbling as a masterpiece.
Creation itself is a mystical moment in which the mind opens, and the intellect
is dazzled by the light of one's Buddha-nature, leaving one feeling profoundly
humble. (In recognizing the limitations of every sentient being, resides the secret
to acquiring wisdom - which is profound knowledge pervaded with love and compassion.)
Loving
Art is loving all sentient beings, because Art itself is a source of love and
compassion. Art as a means of spiritual elevation is automatically the Art of
true freedom, because the Artist connects directly with his or her pure mind.
Art can become "the most rapid vehicle" to connect with ourselves, through
the language of the spontaneous images that arise from within us. This is the
means of expression of the primordial man (like the language of the caveman!),
its images being so much more mystical and genuine than the language spoken by
the ego mind! It is why visitors to my Art Shed are enchanted by the magical effect
of my genuine Art which is very, very poor, as I use only recycled materials.
I don't exaggerate when I say that there are few people who do not go away expressing
some big emotion in their eyes.
As Judith McNicol has written elsewhere, "This
is an Art with the purity and integrity that comes from the innocent wisdom of
its creators. It is an Art that touches the spirit", or one's Buddha-nature!
Yönten Rabje can be contacted at The Art Shed, Samye Ling Tibetan Centre,
Eskdalemuir, Dumfriesshire DGI3 OQL, Scotland, where his art creations are open
to public view. They can also be contacted at http://www.samye.org
Note: (One's
Buddha-nature is the nature of an enlightened sentient being who has been "awoken",
who can then see things as they are without the dualistic mind - an illusory entity
which we call 'I' or the Ego - polarising perceptions into good or bad, correct
or incorrect, love or hate, etc)
BIOGRAPHY
Yonten is a Buddhist monk
living at Samye Ling Tibetan Centre where, in retreat, he began to draw and paint
for the first time in his life, and soon developed a passion for his art work.
He describes himself as a man obsessed with faces, seeing them in every object,
never wasting any materials. His pictures, painted stones and wax creations are
annotated with profound messages, often humorous, many reflecting his own Buddhist
philosophy on existence. He exhibits his work in his Art Shed where he lives,
with any proceeds going to ROKPA, a charity that provides humanitarian aid to
remote rural areas of Tibet.