CrankyBuddhist   the learning never ends …

Studying art, or dance, or any creative subject is very similar to studying a philosophy or, if you must, a religion. As a matter of fact it isn’t any different at all. They are all very disciplined subjects, yet without creative freeflow thinking they soon become stagnant. That may be heresy to some, but it is the truth.

Studying one of these subjects gives the student insight into them all – it only takes finding the commonalities, the ideas and concepts that crossover from one to the other, kind of like thumbing through a cosmic relational database. All of these subjects require observation skills, debating skills, analytical skills, and communication skills. How these skills manifest in a person is molded and brought to life by a teacher.

Everyone needs a teacher. There is no way for me to grow beyond my boundaries without a surrogate parent to show me the way. But how the teacher manifests into someone’s life, what they do there, and how long they stay is different for everyone. Just as the practice of painting, photography, modern dance, and buddhism is different for everyone who chooses to take on the challenge.

Finding a teacher can be purposeful or seemingly come from out of the blue. It is necessary to go with my gut or my instinct when a teacher presents him/herself. Not every teacher is right for every student. There is matchmaking involved, but I, and you, will know when it is right. I have to be ready to hear what they have to tell me. I have to at least have the ability to listen and mull over what they say. A good teacher will challenge me, push me, motivate me and not necessarily tell me that everything is wonderful.

Outgrowing a teacher is a natural thing that sometimes happens. Actually it happens quite often. What was true for me a few years ago is not true for me now. I have grown. I have moved on. The teacher has grown, or maybe they have moved on. It’s as it should be. Whether I choose to find another teacher is up to me.

But, when it comes down to it, if I have learned well, and have developed all of my skills, the one most important thing I have learned, is how to see everything in this world as a teacher, so that I am never without one.

When I was younger I went to art school, twice. Once to an obscure school in the backwoods of Pittsburgh and the other was a four year university in the backwoods of the Bay Area. In any case, besides studying art and photography, I studied languages, African dance and drumming and started my lifelong studies of Buddhism.

One of the main teachings one experiences as an art student is the strengthening of the ego. Art school is fond of ego building and self-centeredness. I am is everything.

One of the main teachings one experiences as a student of buddhism is the diminishment of ego. Buddhism is fond of the elimination of ego and self-centeredness. You are is everything.

This has been a big source of conflict for me as an adult person who is constantly in the state of reorganizing and merging my art and spritual life. There have been times where I have felt very strongly about not budging on my ego. I am everything. The best. The brightest. The whatever. But fortunately I’ve had a lot of conversations with myself on this subject and have very slowly been able to let go of a lot of the I am.

The difficult thing about this is to deal with people who are either artists not on the path, so therefore they are still the best of eveything, or people who expect either me to be a certain way because of the artist stereotype, or my work to be a certain way because of the spiritual stereotype.