Karmas

I finished reading Awakening from the Daydream: Reimagining the Buddha’s Wheel of Life. It was a great read and made me reflect on recurring themes in my life.

Karmas can last for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, or lifetimes. I thought about this after I reflected on a conversation I had with my father a few years back. He mentioned that his goal in life was to have 2 children. His father, an his father’s father, had raised more than 5 children each in El Salvador. Poor and rural, this meant that the children seldom received adequate food, clothing, or education. This had a huge impact on my father, as he internalized the strain placed on the family from being under resourced. Having 2 children was his way of breaking the cycle or karma (his words exactly).

When I was a teenager I remember asking him why we didn’t have a lot of the things other families had, since I grew up poor as well. My father would simply say that he was trying his best and that I shouldn’t compare myself to people who have everything handed to them (his words exactly).

Later in life, I started to realize that maybe he hadn’t tried his best and that (to no fault of his own) he was genuinely bad at managing money. That’s when it hit me. My family has a history of not being financially secure. Maybe that’s my cycle to break. I’ve wanted to be affluent for a long time now, and feel that I’m on the right path to connecting those dots. In understanding karmas and cycles, I’m now seeing this as less to do with material wealth and more to do with a subconscious drive to alter my family’s future for stability.

Flora & Flexibility

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This is new painting I did a couple of weeks ago. As an artist, I’m finally feeling as if I’ve found my style or niche. This goes hand in hand with being comfortable with whatever the finished product looks like.

Many artists (or ones that I’ve read about or have known personally) claim to be their own worst critics. I think there’s a flavor of perfectionism that accompanies this mindset. Mainly, that what one has outlined in their mind should closely mirror what ends up on canvas or other desired media. I used to be this way. But I’ve learned to find solace in things not ending up they way we want. Isn’t that a much more profound adherence to life in general? Being flexible and “rolling with the punches” turns any situation into the right one.

Gregory Hays’ translation of Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” highlights this discriminating but useful quality:

To live life in peace, immune to all compulsion. Let them scream whatever they want. Let animals dismember this soft flesh that covers you. How would any of that stop you from keeping your mind calm—reliably sizing up what’s around you—and ready to make good use of whatever happens? So that Judgment can look the event in the eye and say, “This is what you really are, regardless of what you may look like.” While Adaptability adds, “You’re just what I was looking for.” Because to me the present is a chance for the exercise of rational virtue—civic virtue—in short, the art that men share with gods. Both treat whatever happens as wholly natural; not novel or hard to deal with, but familiar and easily handled.

Inspiration

In another recent hiatus, I have not published a post in a while. Life gets hectic and things that one does not anticipate unfortunately spring up. I still don’t have access to Photoshop or Illustrator, which kind of limits my creative expression. However, in lieu of digital art programs, I  occasionally produce work via hand.

Above is my rendering of a Marcus Aurelius bust. I recently revisited his ‘Meditations‘ and was inspired to create the above image. ‘Meditations‘ is like cold pizza. It’s great when you first pick it up and just as good (if not better) when you revisit it at a later date.

In ‘Book One: Debts and Lessons,’ Marcus addresses many of the individuals (and Gods) who have influenced him in one way or another. Two individuals and their respective lessons that inspire me are:

‘8. Apollonius

Independence and unvarying reliability, and to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos [rational thought and/or God]. And to be the same in all circumstances – intense pain, the loss of a child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexibility.

…

9. Sextus

… Not to display anger or other emotions. To be free of passion and yet full of love.‘

I’m hoping that this piece will get the momentum going and allow me to continue posting. I forgot how rewarding this process can be.

Premature Wisdom

One of my favorite books is The Art of Living, which is a modern translation of the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus’ Enchiridion and Discourses. It’s a set of practical guidelines for living a fruitful life devoid of fear and misinterpretations of events in our lives over which we have no control of.

I am revisiting this book while concurrently reading Roman emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. I find stoicism appealing in many ways, but Roman stoicism attracts me even more. I particularly enjoy the practical application of this subset over more esoteric and theoretical schools of philosophy.

The illustration above is based on the following The Art of Living quote:

‘Behold the world fresh – as it is, on its own terms – through the eyes of a beginner. To know that you do not know and to be willing to admit that you do not know without sheepishly apologizing is real strength and sets the stage for learning and progress in any endeavor.’

Owls are generally associated with wisdom, so I thought that a baby owl could represent the manifestation of premature wisdom. Geometric shapes usually represent order and structure. I unified these two concepts to catalog a visual path towards personal growth via mental/spiritual/emotional regiments.

 

Alix Ohlin

Alix Ohlin’s Signs & Wonders is a chilling collection of short stories about the fragility of the human condition via relationships. Jealousy, lust, betrayal, and conditional and unconditional love are all themes through which her characters envelope themselves and the individuals they are involved with.

There were some stories which were difficult to read, as they highlighted my own personal flaws and insecurities. Nonetheless, it’s an emotionally sobering and titillating read.