everyman’s artist…consciousness

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He saw that his own mind was present in every phenomenon in the universe. …Our own mind is the source of all phenomena. Form, sound, smell, taste, and tactile perception such as hot and cold, hard and soft – these are all creations of our mind. They do not exist as we usually think they do.  Our consciousness is like an artist, painting every phenomenon into being.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds

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a new kind of empathy

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After listening to the TED Talk, “Can a Divided America Heal”, I did a brief exploration of the three basic principles of moral psychology

  1. Generally we influenced by intuition and then use that which “feels right” to justify our moral judgments.
  2. The underlying motivation in moral reasoning and communication is directed more towards manipulation or persuasion than exploration of truth.
  3. Morality is a crucial element of tribalism which is the building block for the development of large, cooperative societies.

A bit of personal reflection opens a window of understanding of how I’m more often than not influence by what feels right and yes, the importance I place in intuition over reasoning.  Often a movement towards “spiritual” reasoning occurs after a period of solitude and contemplation.

There is also an awareness that I do enjoy the rhythmic power of football tribalism while being perplexed by a religious leader’s comment about limiting compassion to one’s own tribe.

Then finally…do I acknowledge the possibility of some hidden agenda to persuade you to join me in what feels right over someone else’s sense of right?  Ugh, I think I’ll close this window for a bit and open one that has us explore a new empathy.

…we have an existential threat on our hands..we need a new kind of empathy…if you want to escape from this [the anger and worry of the last year], read Buddha, read Jesus, read Marcus Aurelius. They have all kinds of great advice for how to drop the fear, reframe things, stop seeing the other people as your enemy. There’s a lot of guidance in ancient wisdom…(Jonathan Haidt)

Ancient wisdom guiding us to “a new kind of empathy.”  I believe that the on-the-ground community response to Harvey is a living example of an ancient empathy that has the potential to heal.

I invite you to listen to the TED talk below in which social psychologists Jonathan Haidt and TED Curator Chris Anderson explore the sharp divisions of today and then discuss how we may be able to move forward.   _()_

wpc: structure

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If you are…someone who enjoys the countryside, or the green forest, you know that the forests are our lungs outside our bodies. Yet, we have been acting in a way that has allowed two million square miles of forest land to be destroyed by acid rain. We are imprisoned in our small selves, thinking only of the comfortable conditions for this small self, while we destroy our large self. One day I suddenly saw that the sun is my heart, my heart outside of this body. If my body’s heart ceases to function I cannot survive; but if the sun, my other heart, ceases to function, I will also die immediately… (Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace)

via Photo Challenge: Structure

wednesday words

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As I was reviewing images taken during a morning walk, this blurry photograph of children, gathered under a weeping willow to escape the summer heat, brought to mind the quote, “the eyes will not see that which breaks the heart.”   So with the quote in mind I did a bit of exploring within the Nik Collection, added a couple of layers, and then did a bit of dodging and burning.

Speaking of love, check out Gidget at Pixel Sisters Studio 

tears

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The Belgian composer Wim Mertens (born 1953) is an international recording and performing artist who has given countless concerts, as a soloist and with his ensemble, all over Europe, North and Central America, Japan, Thailand and in Russia. He initially studied at the Conservatory of Brussels and graduated in political and social sciences at the K.U. Leuven and Musicology at the R.U. Gent. In 1998, Mertens became the Cultural Ambassador of Flanders.