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“In kindess
There is no thing to lose,
There is no thing to fail in
and no place but openness”
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| You can buy prints of Clare's paintings at www.clear-vision.org | ||
Historically when Buddhism has travelled to a new country it has naturally and over time integrated itself with the culture that it meets. This enables the core teachings of Buddhism to find new expression and its relevance to be realised in the minds and hearts of that new culture. Buddhism has now come to the west and we are encountering a rich and potentially confusing period of interpenetration with the culture and people of these lands. We are in a fortunate position to have very many great teachers who are still alive and who are able to share their understanding and make this transition an easier one. But essentially if any interpenetration between Buddhism and the West is going to happen it has to happen in the hearts and minds of western practitioners where the two meet and become ‘realised’. This is already well under way. In terms of the arts, the founder of the WBO/TBMSG (Western Buddhist Order/Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana) Urgyen Sangharakshita has said that it has taken an average of 200 years for Buddhism to find an integrated expression in the art forms of the indigenous culture. Recently he said that it may however not take that long in our contemporary culture due to our advanced communications. The ease and speed of our communication allows for inspiration/ideas and understanding to be shared more readily. So what does this mean? And how do we go about it? This is a question of much debate. I can imagine the flowering of these radical and precious Buddhist teachings within our own culture and arts although I don’t think that it is inevitable.
As far as I can in see in order for the Buddha’s
teachings to take root more fully and grow in richness within our culture
a body of people need to want this to happen and perhaps more than anything
else. If this is in place then knowledge and deep understanding of (perhaps
insight into) the Buddhist teachings that those people are working with
and living under the influence of is needed. We also need to support
initiatives – in this case the artists, so that they can ‘create
visual images that we respond to/ that speak to us’. The ‘artists’
responsibility’ is to be familiar with their discipline and to
work with a lot of integrity. These things are important to me and I
seem to be involved in this vision as fully as I am able. And so long
as the path is a creative one I shall continue to do so. There are other
artists who I think are engaging with these concerns too, some of whom
also have websites. Here are a few links:
Padmayogini
Clear
Vision Trust
Visuddhimati
It’s worth noting that I choose to call this work ‘Buddhist art’ and not ‘thangka paintings’ since I do not adhere to the traditional form of Eastern thangka painting in terms of its geometry and particular arrangements of forms and symbols. These highly formalised and refined set of aesthetic instructions have sprung from and developed within a particular aesthetic mode of which I can see no real need to adhere to. The Buddhist tradition, its teachings and practice is alive here in the west and it is within our aesthetic tradition that I work. Hence, I call this work, for now at least, ‘Buddhist art’.
‘Buddhism’s capacity to embody values
of compassion through its view of the interdependence of beings with
each other and within nature, along with its ability to co-exist with
other religions- enhancing our tools for life rather than splitting
us apart- seems compelling for our times.’
Jacqueline Baas and Mary Jane Jacob
p.11 preface to ‘Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art’
