Uplifting our consciousness
How much time do you spend plotting how to lift yourself out of your ordinary and mundane life? Do you ever plot the end of the day, the week, a holiday…? Some art works – particularly the sacred arts – can help us to do this too. They enable us to touch a transcendent reality -a state of peacefulness, wisdom and lovefulness- with its heightened awareness of who we are and what we are doing here.
Sacred art
What makes it so? Do you not find that ‘they’ have a different quality or another reality about them? Maybe it is an image of a saint, a Buddha form, a Hindu god, a scene of an age gone by or carved angels.
The sacred artist
We need to consider how these artists work/ed. Before beginning a piece of work or continuing with one these artists go/went into a transcendent state and then come/came back with a vision that they then create/d in a physical form – be it as a painting or sculpture. Working so the art work also actually ‘absorbs’ the artist’s state of mind and energy of the vision.
“I like to approach work in this way, before I start a piece of work I bless the tools and materials- I appreciate them and invite them to work with me. When I do this…I can only describe it like this; the stone would then yield to me.”
[The speaker, a sculptor]
Generally today most of us work the opposite way around to this, we do ‘x’ in order to attain ‘that’ feeling. We may work, for example, to attain the feeling of having money in our pocket as this gives us the feeling of being happy, useful and respected. As opposed to the above where first you create the feeling and then do. This way around whatever you do is filled with that energy.
Two roles of ‘art’
Most art today, in fact the whole entertainment industry, is about reflecting back to us our ‘mundane’ existence in minute detail; the anxiety, pain, depression, hopelessness, etc. They mirror back to us our feelings, but this doesn’t uplift us or inspire us.
The other role of art – to uplift and inspire us – looks very different. First the state of mind is created – a state of peacefulness, power and lovefulness- and then the artist creates. This is how those sacred artists work(ed). Then when the viewer sees the art work this they pick up on that state of mind too.
How do you create a higher state of consciousness?
It is like climbing a ladder, however first we have to get onto that first rung and to be able to do this we need to make our mind peaceful.
To do this 1) learn to accept everything just as it is. This doesn’t mean to universally agree with whatever it is happening, it means that to suspend judgment, analysis and criticism for now. Negative thoughts dim the light of the soul and leave us low and heavy and we need to practise raising our awareness to be light, peaceful, kind and loving.
2) create a positive thought and savor it for 20 minute, for example, today’s going to be a really nice day, I’m going to be happy today, I’m going to contribute something to the world today – something light and happy. Then do this again maybe 20 minutes later and then 20 minutes later again… When we think too much we block ourselves from accessing the visionary part of ourselves.
Surrounded by negativity and people saying you can’t?
OK, it is not going to be dead easy. It’s not their fault, we have all been taught the same thing it is just that now you want to try something new. What you will need is to have develop faith in you and to be patient, loving and kind with yourself.
Your responsibility as a creator is to create your own life and then help others to create their lives. Real creativity is that which we can use in our everyday lives to change the mundane into something uplifting and that has a positive impact on the people around us. Once in that state of higher consciousness whatever you create will be intrinsically beautiful and so it follows that so will become your life and relationships.
