The Thin Vertical Line of Light, Transcendence, and Freedom

We have what we call a mudroom at our house. It's the room that leads to the backdoor and has stairs that lead down to the basement door. There is a glass door on the top level of the mudroom that leads to the backyard. Usually when not locked, this door sits open about a quarter or half inch or so. On the other side of the room are the stairs to the bottom level of the mudroom.

From the kitchen door you can watch the mudroom and see out into the backyard. Sometimes I will stare outside and watch my dogs play or just think. Once in a while, flies or even wasps will get inside the mudroom when letting the dogs in or out, and then not be able to get back outside.

But there is a way back outside. It's the vertical quarter inch gap that the glass door sits open when not latched. So in all the space of the mudroom, there is only that think vertical line in which to escape back out. The chances of the flying insect finding that path out is slim.

As I was contemplating this one day it occurred to me that the situation of the flying insects trapped in the mudroom is not unlike my own search for enlightenment and evolution. I seek to evolve and understand and transcend what I perceive to be 'ordinary reality'. Watching Star Trek The Next Generation last night, in season 2's first episode, Captain picard talks about what death is, when asked by Commander Data. He responds basically that he would like to believe that beyond death and beyond our current understanding and concepts, is a greater reality that our existence is a part of.

This is the thin vertical line in our lives. That thing we are trying to find. It's hard to see, hard to get to, hard to understand, but it is definitely there.

We spend time flying around in vain smashing against clear glass windows, or even flying downward into a dark bottom level of a room filled with spiders. To take this elaborate metaphor even further, the flying insects in the mudroom will sometimes journey down the stairs to the bottom level of the mudroom. A dank, dingy room filled with massive spiderwebs in the corners. (I leave them alone because spiders kill termites etc). So some of these insects, rather then finding the thin vertical line to transcendence and freedom, might end up as a meal in a spider's web. Taking wrong turns in dark places and ending up trapped. (Unless of course I let them out, which I usually try to do).

This metaphor reminds me once of an experience I had at an art gallery near the river market in Kansas City. There was a sculpture set up that involved a figure on a wheel that would balance on a wire. There was a motor and a chain that would cause the figure to go back and forth on the wire. I was staring at the chain in a moment of sublimity I thought was only mine. There was a real bug, no relation to the scultpure, who had found his way onto the chain that was in motion. He was trying to crawl upwards but only managed to stay in place, because the chain was going the opposite direction. I stood mesmerized by this strange microcosmic event when another man behind me also saw what was happening. He verbalized that it was like all of us, trying to make our way and only staying in place. Like the grand sculpture was the universe and we, humans, were the little bug.  We agreed it was an interesting and strange thing.

Do I have a message in these strange metaphors? Only that maybe we should continue to search for that thin vertical line. Even when it seems like you're only barely managing to hold yourself in place, keep trying. Remember that the soul is only being housed in this body temporarily, so take advantage. Look for what Hendrix called the Axis. It's the thing that can cause you to evolve. It could be the greater understanding of the universe. It's a more true reality. What Picard said is beyond our current concepts of understanding in this world. Don't stop looking for it. It does exist. We can evolve.

"Lost" Finale: Short Synopsis and Thoughts

Recently the television show 'LOST' wrapped up it's amazing six season run with a fantastic series finale episode. I don't want to sound too smug or something; but for me, the way they wrapped everything up made almost total sense. (It didn't answer every detail obviously, which is good maybe, and they answered enough questions at least). (There are spoilers below for those of you who haven't watched it yet or are waiting for the DVD or something.)

The second storyline we had been following this whole sixth season of the characters after the 'reset'/bomb explosion attempt to nullify the drill breach that ended season five; - was the Losties as ghosts of a kind. They were in the immediate afterlife before moving on (into the light). It was 'a place they created to remember and reconnect' as Christian Shepard put it (talking to Jack). Which means the whole storyline that ended with Jack's (real death) and Hurley in charge of the island with Ben as number two was all real and that's how it ended. (Now that would be a cool series, seeing Hurley in charge with Ben tagging along, - and totally possible - why not?).

Why was the part after the reset attempt/explosion real? - Because Hurley said to Ben (in the 'purgatory' they made), "you made a great number two." Ben said back "and you were a great number one". Also in the scene where Jack enters the church and sees his father, Christian says to Jack about his friends "...some died before you, some died long after." Which implies that whole storyline post-explosion was all real. The scene where Jack falls down after exiting the creek outside the cave was his real life death.

I have to admit those scenes of the Losties remembering their lives, when they touched each other 'as ghosts' (before entering the light) were pretty moving. Juliette and Sawyer (after Juliette slipping from his hands at the end of season five), Sun and Jin (especially after them dying together on the boat). The scene with Locke and Ben outside the church where Ben apologizes to Locke for killing him is quite poignant. I mean it's simple on one hand, but so brutal on another level, - as ghosts before moving on, Ben apologizes to Locke for having killed him in the life that they just left. That's heavy. "Hey I know we are both dead now and I killed you back there. Sorry about that" I mean not to make fun, it's truly a great and intriguing scene, among many from the last episode.

Which leaves the question (in my probably way off-base and confusing assessment) - what did the reset/explosion do exactly? If that second 'happy in LA' storyline was them waiting to 'move on' to 'purgatory' or whatever, then what did the explosion do? Did it just nullify the breach that the Dharma drilling caused; - and the two just canceled each other out? Did it somehow merge the 70's time-line characters into the current time? Because earlier in the sixth season Juliette's 'ghost' or whatever says to Sawyer (through Miles) 'it worked' (meaning the bomb). And at the beginning of this season that huge temple with the Asian 'candidate' in charge of 'the others', wasn't there pre-reset/explosion, - right?

Well I could continue for quite a bit more about Lost because the questions go on forover and the more you think you know the more you think you know nothing, which is the magic of Lost. So Anyways, that's my short nonsensical-maybe synopsis of the amazing finale of the historic TV event that was LOST. Comments and discussion are welcome as always.

Thankful for the Oppurtunity to Give My Self to Art

This week of thanksgiving what am I thankful for? Well in addition to the usual things like my girlfriend, my family, my cat and dog, being alive, etc., what comes to mind is something that I have always been grateful for. My creative drive; my need to express myself, that for as long as I can remember as always been there. I am not alone in my family in having this streak, as a child I remember all my older brothers being able to draw, I remember staring in awe at their work. My grandfather, my dad always tells me (I never met him) was very good at drawing and painting, in addition to being in a traveling band, (we're talking early 20th century here, not a rock band but something akin I guess).

So a gift that I am thankful for is my creativity, but what to do with it? I have been working at painting and drawing and writing, mostly art though, for quite a number of years now. There is always that gap between having to work full time, and then not doing your art. I am getting to the point soon hopefully where I will start selling my work (you'll see it offered here in the near future you lucky readers), and ideally that would be a large part of my income.

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."
-Buddha

Buddha in the Garden, derivative work
© 2008 Ed Tajchman (original source)

It's not the new year it's Thanksgiving obviously, but I already have a resolution (who needs a new year for a resolution anyways). It's to be more applied and focused in drawing and painting every day. Finishing projects, framing them, and repeating the cycle. To use the creative gift to the full extent and make it my life, to take that last step into working 8 - 12 hours a day at it. (We can all dream right?)

Someone who did manage this feat was a very successful early 20th century musician, Clara Schumann. She also raised 7 kids, was the main money winner for her family through her concerts, inspired and married fellow pianist Robert Schumann, and was considered "the high priestess of music" in her day.

"My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art."
-Clara Schumann

She was lucky enough to be one of those people whose art enveloped every portion of their life from a very young age. She threw herself and her whole life into her art and made a success of it. Taught by her father from an early age, she studied music for her entire life, and through a lot of hard work, determination, and an unwavering focus she did indeed live for art. The Schumann's were lucky enough to be pretty much born into their art in a somewhat wealthy family, next post I'll be discussing more; that struggle that most artist's who aren't so lucky to have that kind of setting feel.

Thoughts on Dreaming and "The Dreamweaver"

I want to write about something that is a fascinating subject to me - the world of dreams. Dreaming is an immense and infinite subject, but I want to touch on a few key points at least. Dreams (the actual sleeping kind of dreams, not goals) can be many different things to many different people, the important thing to remember is that they are very subjective of course. Although some have tried to devise a 'standard' to understanding dreams, it is always a very unique and personal process.

Dreams can be your fantasies, your plans, your worries, simply a reaction to eating junk food, your wants and needs, a carry-over from your daily life, a form of telepathic communication, a way to gain insight into your mind, a portal to spiritual dimensions and many other things. Some people claim that they don't dream, but this is not true - everybody dreams, you may just not remember them. Keeping a notepad by the side of the bed is one way to start helping you to remember them, and the more you write day after day, the more of your dreams you will remember.

Speaking of dreaming practices, let me tell you about one of the most fascinating books I have honestly ever read - Carlos Castaneda's The Art of Dreaming. Back in the day, Dr. Castaneda was just an anthropological student searching for an authentic old-school teacher when he found Don Juan. Don Juan taught Carlos many things and he wrote it all down in a series of books. Among these teachings is one set aimed at understanding the lucid dreaming process more fully, which Carlos gives us in this book.

Lucid dreaming is the state of mind you reach when, in your dreams you know absolutely that it is a dream, remaining asleep but attaining a kind of half-conscious state in the dream. The more skill you have in your lucid dreaming the more conscious you are and the more control you have. As I said, the book is a set of practices for improving one's lucid dreaming skills, set inside of a narrative. Some people debate the existence of Castaneda's Don Juan, but whether it exactly happened the way he wrote it or not, the information he provides in this book and all of his books is simply mind-blowing.

"Judged by the subjective standards of orderly thoughts, orderly visual and auditory sensory input, orderly responses on my part, my experiences, for as long as they lasted, were as real as any situation in our daily world."

- Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming.

One way that Don Juan describes the dreamworld to Carlos is that he says it is like the skins of an onion. The more you peel the more you discover, and every layer is entirely different than the last. In the background of my sketch below you can see a kind of layered-gate or portal with a figure standing in front of it; he is The Dreamweaver. I did this around the time I was reading the book for the first time several years ago.

The Dreamweaver by Ed T. © 2008

One of the things that Don Juan prescribes to Carlos to help him enter the lucid dreaming state, is that he tells him to try and remember to look at his hands. Simply focus on this idea over and over as you fall asleep and in the dream if you remember to do that it can trigger lucid dreaming. Seeing your hand in the dream not only bridges the gap to your conscious mind (which you employed for this exact purpose) it forces you to focus and look at detail in the dream. So that's why The Dreamweaver's hand in my drawing is so big.

But what about dreams as an analytical tool? Not only are dreams a tool for understanding your self and your mind, they can be tools for understanding information in an entirely new way. For example, some mathematicians claim dreams can help them gain perspective and answers even to unsolvable equations. Dreams provide inspiration not only to problem-solvers but to artists, inventors, philosophers, writers, and anyone that has ever gained insight from a dream. The key being the unconscious mind's ability to process information in a much more abstract method than the conscious can ever hope to do. Take this quote from Carl Jung on the subject:

"The unconscious seems to be able to examine and to draw conclusions from facts, much as consciousness does. It can even use certain facts, and anticipate their possible results, just because we are not conscious of them."

- Carl Jung, Man and his symbols.

I once had a dream where there was this absurdly large cowboy, almost like in those Zippy cartoons where those large store icons come to life and talk to him. This giant cowboy went to shake my hand and proceeded to crush it. It didn't hurt but I woke up and remembered feeling shocked that it was happening. At the time, a fellow employee that I was working with at my job was studying dreams and psychology in college. He immediately aked if there was a situation I was feeling overwhelmed by. And in fact there was, I was planning on moving out of state for the first time soon, and was definitely concerned about leaving my home city.

I was amazed that the key to understanding the dream was so simple and that he got it so fast, and that it was very true. More true than I realized at the time even. Then I was feeling mostly just excitement and readiness. But months later, without going into too much detail, I did experience that realization of being overwhelmed by being in a completely new place with new people, I guess that's what you call culture shock?

So I hope you enjoyed my short journey into the world of dreams. Feel free to share your own dreams in the comments, or any insights you want to share about dreaming. If you have a longer entry, feel free to email it to me and I will post it here at Modern Art Quotes, make sure and include a link to your homepage if you want.

Discussing Wassily Kandinsky's Essay: "Concerning the Spiritual in Art"

I was reading an essay recently by that most famous of early abstract painters (at least in my book) Wassily Kandinsky, published in 1914 as: The Art of Spiritual Harmony, (translated by Michael Sadler). I was particularly struck by the second part of it entitled; "The Movement of the Triangle". It describes a diagram that is a simile for the life of the spirit. I didn't see a diagram anywhere so I thought I would make one, because I don't know about you, but I am a visual learner. Sometimes I can read something twenty times and not really get it, until I map it out for myself. Along with my diagram, I have also selected what I consider the most vital elements of Kandinsky's "The Movement of the Triangle" and presented them below: (Click above for full essay.)

"The life of the spirit may be fairly represented in diagram as a large acute-angled triangle divided horizontally into unequal parts with the narrowest segment uppermost. The lower the segment the greater it is in breadth, depth, and area.

The whole triangle is moving slowly, almost invisibly forwards and upwards. Where the apex was today the second segment is tomorrow; what today can be understood only by the apex and to the rest of the triangle is an incomprehensible gibberish, forms tomorrow the true thought and feeling of the second segment."

And then here is my diagram:

(Note: the article is in the public domain, but the diagram is © by Ed Tajchman 2008.)

Kandinsky goes on to say:

"At the apex of the top segment stands often one man, and only one. His joyful vision cloaks a vast sorrow. Even those who are nearest to him in sympathy do not understand him. Angrily they abuse him as charlatan or madman. So in his lifetime stood Beethoven, solitary and insulted."

and a paragraph later....

"In every segment of the triangle are artists. Each one of them who can see beyond the limits of his segment is a prophet to those about him, and helps the advance of the obstinate whole. But those who are blind, or those who retard the movement of the triangle for baser reasons, are fully understood by their fellows and acclaimed for their genius. The greater the segment (which is the same as saying the lower it lies in the triangle) so the greater the number who understand the words of the artist. Every segment hungers consciously or, much more often, unconsciously for their corresponding spiritual food. This food is offered by the artists, and for this food the segment immediately below will tomorrow be stretching out eager hands."

Wassily Kandinsky

You can see from diagram a. above the artists and their vision; they create spiritual growth; spiritual food as Kandinsky says for the artists on the level below them, and thus move the whole of understanding forward. You can also see in diagram b. the ones on the bottom, inhibiting the growth of knowledge and understanding.

One modern example of the latter is, (I won't name any names) but think about the work of several of those very successful commercial 'painters', (you know who I mean). The ones who create overly-cheesy, 'safe', repetitious, massively reproduced work. I too If I so desired, could paint pictures of puppy dogs and sunsets and cottages and sell them for profit.

By giving in to the temptation to create solely for money though, and not taking risks, you limit your vision and growth as an artist. And therefore impede the progress of our understanding of reality as a whole, by not fully exploring the gifts you have been given. I'm not saying success is bad of course, but I prefer risky work; ones who create out of a desire to express themselves in a new and unique way; broadening the nature of our understanding of this world.

But that's just one aspect (from my perspective) of a very broad dynamic that Kandinsky is speaking of. So, hopefully I was able to offer up a little bit of spiritual food today for you with this post. If you read this much you might as well read the whole article, (link is at the top) it is a very fascinating read.

Thoughts and Ideas on the Spiritual Nature of Experience

What is the nature of spiritual reality? Spirituality is the nature of this experience on earth. It bugs me sometimes when people talk about life after death as the ultimate question in life. This to me is just not true. Spiritual reality is as real, well more real than the chair you're sitting in right now. I trust the physical reality of the existence of my soul over just about anything else in this life. Science tells us that matter is merely energy condensed into a slow vibration. Metaphysics implies that there are at least 11 dimensions. All cultures in the history of mankind acknowledge some kind of spiritual reality. Let us be enlightened by a quote from the French mystic Teilhard de Chardin:

“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.”

-Teilhard de Chardin, (1881-1955)

A simple and very true thought from a spiritual man, but now let us look at the thoughts of a man from science;

"When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.”

-Albert Einstein

What is always interesting to me is the correlation between science and spirit. Here with these two quotes we have a perfect example of this. Comparing these two ideas we come across a theme - that first comes the basic fact of the spiritual nature of our reality, and then second is the physicality of this existence.

Word of the Day: Spiritualism

Sometimes you hear a word but you don't take the time to explore fully exactly what it means probably. Well, we do here at Modern Art Quotes. Today's Word of the day is Spiritualism. Wiktionary defines the word as follows:

spiritualism

1. A philosophic doctrine, opposing materialism, that claims transcendency of the divine being, the altogether spiritual character of reality and the value of inwardness of consciousness.
2. A belief that the dead communicate with the living through a medium having special powers.

Spiritualism often refers to the practice of communicating with spirits; although my personal definition is much more general, and matches the first definition from above, "...that claims transcendency of the divine being,...". Basically I don't just believe, I know that the soul is real, and eternal. At least more eternal than this physical body. I know this to be true from various experiences I have had over the course of my life, including; dreams, waking experiences, and intentional and unintentional movement of the soul body, (moving separately from the physical body). But to close this Word of the Day entry, let me quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; from his The History of Spiritualism:

"There has, however, been no time in the recorded history of the world when we do not find traces of preternatural interference and a tardy recognition of them from humanity."

detail of: Inter-Weaving Design by Ed Tajchman ©

For more information about spiritualism visit the following websites:

• Check out this great article: What is the Meaning of the Term Spiritual?

• And this one: A Brief history of spiritual psychic art, is also quite fascinating, make sure to check out their gallery as well.

• Also, What is Spiritualism

God, Culture, and Evolution

I believe in evolution and the genius of Darwin and I find this particular quote from him very interesting. His stance is that a belief in God starts in the prolonged creation of and exposure to culture.

“The belief in God has often been advanced as not only the greatest but the most complete of all the distinctions between man and the lower animals. It is, however, impossible to maintain that this belief is instinctive in man. The idea of a universal and beneficent creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man until he has been elevated by long, continued culture.”

-Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

It bothers me that the idea of God is often referred to in a singular manner; the creator, he, the father, etc. The idea of a collective unconscious, a universal energy that is both internal and external, unified yet separate, I think gets lost sometimes in this pretext of a male patriarch God. I don't believe that there is one super being that is like master of the universe. We are all connected, and our spirits are eternal, now if you want to call that God, well then I might agree with you.

There is a nature special that I have seen on PBS numerous times, about a species of orchid in Madagascar that is 10-11 inches long. Once upon a time after Darwin saw one, he predicted that there had to be a moth with a tongue of about 12 inches, long enough to pollinate the orchid. The documentary I refer to was about a man's quest to prove Darwin right. He set up cameras for weeks until his team finally got their golden ticket, a shot of the moth pollinating the orchid with it's ridiculously long tongue. Darwin's bold prediction, more than a century old, was finally proven to be true.

Gautama Buddha on Creating Your Self

What's interesting is that after I read this a couple of weeks ago, I had a dream where I was holding a small Buddha statue. Anyways, I couldn't agree more with Gautama Buddha and his words of wisdom, expressed in this quote:

"The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew. Seek therefore, not to find out Who You Are, but seek to determine who you want to be."

- Gautama Buddha

There is that archetypal idea of a young person going wandering or traveling for a while to find themselves. More powerful maybe, is the idea that you can create who you are. There is no true barrier stopping anyone from being anything they want, you just need to find a way - any way, to create it; to invent your self. From what you eat, to how you treat people, to how you dress, are all decisions that shape who you are.

I think it's important that we strive to learn and grow and envision a more clear future, and at the same time embrace who we are today. There's no solid niche for what moves some people the most, but that just means there's more opportunity for you to create that yourself with your vision, goals, and dreams. This quote from George Bernard Shaw, also talks of creating the self.

An Idea to Meditate On

This quote from German philosopher Rudolph Eucken reinforces the knowledge that this world we call reality is but a train stop if you will, on a much larger map. This is a good quote to meditate on, it brings to my mind so many different things I don't know where to start. Feel free to comment on what comes to your mind when you read it.

"Man is the meeting-point of various stages of Reality."

- Rudolph Eucken (1846 - 1926)

Joseph Campbell on Daily Rituals

I've had thoughts along the lines of this quote from mythologist Joseph Campbell:

"People sometimes ask me, 'what rituals do we have?' You've got the rituals, only you're not meditating on them. When you eat a meal, that's a ritual. Just realize what you're doing."

-Joseph Campbell, Transformations of Myth Through Time, Harper & Row, NY, 1990.

Some religions have elaborate overdone rituals, so old that most people partaking in them, don't even understand why they are doing it. Being reflective about every day actions is a way to simplify your life and set out the rituals that make your day whole. For me drawing, painting, and writing are all rituals that keep me centered and moving forward.

The Eye of the Creative Tiger

What more is there to say about inspiration after the quote below from mystic Evelyn Underhill? Nothing comes to mind, and no words could say it better. I can merely state again that Evelyn Underhill's book Mysticism is a masterpiece.

"This humble receptiveness, this still and steady gazing, in which emotion, will, and thought are lost and fused, is the secret of the great contemplative on fire with love of that which he has been allowed to see."

-Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, London, 1911.

I really do find this quote irresistibly inspirational. It describes that moment in the creative process when I am lost in the moment fully, no worries, no fears, no distractions, just my will, my emotion, my spiritual eye open and creating, painting, letting the energy roll through me, and knowing I am blessed that it does. Nothing is more sublime than those moments, and no words describe it better than Evelyn Underhill's.

Plato on Reincarnation

One of the greatest minds of ancient or modern civilizations; Plato in this quote talks about "forms of the spirit":

"The only thing one can do for another is reintroduce him to those forms of the spirit, the memory of which was lost at birth."

-Plato, Timaeus

I am a firm believer in reincarnation, and know that our bodies are hosts to our souls. The spirit body can move separately from the physical body, and will live on long after it is gone. Pain is ephemeral, we are ageless.

Give Me Soulful Art, Not Objectivity

Marc Chagall (1887 -1985) is one of my favorite artists of all time. The following quote is a simple and direct statement but it says a lot. His work definitely has a surreal, abstract even ethereal quality to it. Good art doesn't need to be objective, true expression is a reflection of one's soul.

“Art seems to me to be a state of soul more than anything else.”

-Marc Chagall

I was looking at an online gallery of paintings the other day on a blog and they were so proud of this work that was an image of a table with a bowl on it. They were getting off on it with all kinds of praise in the comments section of the post. I mean honestly though, geez, who cares about a painting of a frickin' bowl and a table? Not me, not unless it's clear the artist is giving me something new, something from inside of him; something realist painters seem to be afraid of, or unable or unwilling to do sometimes.

Terence Mckenna on the Unconscious

I find the following words of researcher, anthropologist, author, Terence McKenna's to be very true, and this is a recurring theme in the writings here at Modern Art Quotes. It is the role of the artist to reconnect the pipeline back to our unconscious, in ways that some religious institutions fail to do.

"We have wandered into a state of prolonged neurosis because of the absence of a direct pipeline to the unconscious and we have then fallen victim to priestcraft of every conceivable sort. "

-Terence Mckenna

Dogmatic religions seperate us from the real, vibrant, immediate spirituality that is us and around us at all times. A quote from Jimi Hendrix further illustrates this point. Terence Mckenna (1946 - 2000) was a great thinker, anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and philosopher amongst other things. Part of his work involved bringing shamanic elements into popular culture of the west, in an effort to shift the consciousness of the planet towards a more holistic and balanced ecological ideal. Check out his books here: Terence McKenna's books in print.