Remnants of Living

I've been thinking lately about how I view life. I, like many, fall into the trap of thinking about life as a noun. It's easy to think of life as this thing, something we are aspiring to. Sometimes, I remember the truth. The truth is life is a verb, something we do. Life is a process called living. You can't have life without living because it is the essence of life. When I catch myself chasing the meaning of life I have to remind myself that it's nothing more than to live. Do the things I love. Create happiness in each moment. We are just surrounded by remnants of living. As an artist, I see my artwork as a remnants leftover from experiences I have had. My music is the same way. Perhaps it is a remnant of a feeling that was passing through at a particular time in my life. My dirty dishes are remnants of great meals. My messy bed is a remnant of a good night's sleep. Even my own death will be a remnant of my life. Remnants remain, but the living goes on forever. Eventually, even the remnants will leave their own remnants; such as when my body decays and turns back into earth. But the living remains ever evolving. We create every moment. We have the opportunity to be present for every experience. Happiness is not something to be found, but it is a part of the process we call living. But so is sadness and all the other emotions. Nothing is exempt. Heaven is not a place, but a state of being. Hell is our own creation. We are very creative beings. Perfection can never be attained, but exists as the unity of all existence! Stop searching. Start living!!!Let the remnants fall where they may.

The Buddha Image

Many non-Buddhists have a misunderstanding of the Buddha image. I thought it would be a good idea to write a post explaining the significance of the image from a Buddhist's perspective. First of all, Buddha is not considered God. He isn't really worshiped as such. The Buddha (meaning "enlightened one") was a human being that physically lived on earth many years ago. He was a great and wise teacher, much like Jesus. His teachings are what are important to Buddhists. For those, he is very respected. Buddhists pay these respects in differing ways. A statue of the Buddha is full of symbolism for the Buddhist, all of which remind he/she of the things Buddha discovered and taught. So to say one worships Buddha statues is not an accurate description of what is actually occurring. The physical presence of a Buddha figure merely reminds us to practice each moment and remain mindful of our true nature.

New Art Products

Take a look at some of the products I just added in my Zazzle store (on slide show at the bottom of this blog). They're all based on my own artworks. I've been creating some new products, but sometimes it takes about 24 hours for them to show up in the store. Lately I've been trying to branch out my artwork into different areas besides just fine art. I hope you find something you like. A lot of my work tends to have a spiritual leaning, but some is just for fun. If you're interest in spiritual art you might want to try drawing as meditation sometime.