This program is available to you whether or not you consider yourself an artist or a meditator. The Shambhala Art teachings celebrate art that springs from the meditative mind. They remind us to appreciate the uniqueness of everyday sensory experience, the art of everyday life. Seeing the simplicity and brilliance of “things as they are” provides the ground for genuine creativity, which is the expression of non-aggression.
In part one of the five-part Shambhala Art curriculum, we develop meditation as the ground for all creative endeavors. Through a sequence of experiential exercise, we glimpse our capacity for spontaneous creative expression that is independent of agenda or forced cleverness. These glimpses provide the initial confidence that we can rest with ourselves and our world. According to the Shambhala Art teachings, resting with ourselves and our world is the ground for the creative process.
We cover the following topics in Shambhala Art Part I:
- Learning the value of slowing down and establishing a practice of shamatha meditation
- Understanding the concepts of “felt sense” and “thought sense,” and how allowing felt sense to proceed thought sense allows us to have deeper and more authentic experiences
- Learning to appreciate the vividness of experience and trusting our “first thought, best thought.”