Great art picks up where nature ends.
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works
If from the head, almost nothing
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall died this day in 1985. His work strikes me as being an apt signal for the idea that hope can rise out of despair; and that love can go on in the midst of evil. It is known that Chagall was inspired by music; by Bach and Mozart, but also by the music of the Hasidic Jewish community of his youth. It is quite remarkable that Chagall was able to create such colour and light in the context of Nazi barbarism. Yet, over and over again, the art that he produced sings, not only with joy and beauty, but also with innocence. He is often quoted as saying that he drew on the well-spring of love, not its opposite. That is another definition of compassion.
The practice of regular meditation can be thought of as an oasis or spring, whether we live in a desert or in the urban dryness of the city’s constant activity. The point is that the spring is within each one of us, it is not in a place inaccessible or other-worldly. The most remarkable thing is this: the more we nourish ourselves from the spiritual stores within us, the more we add to the sum of the universal creative life-force because there is no end to the flow of spiritual energy that began with the creation of the world.
Meditation for the day
Take a moment to come fully into your peaceful space
be aware of your body
feel that the top of your head is suspended by a connecting thread
relax your neck
stretch each limb and then let it rest
palms on your knees with thumbs gently touching
feel the curve of your spine
and plant your feet so that you are aware of being grounded
breathing in
holding
breathing out
Now
let your gaze rest on Chagall’s stained glass
on the depth of blue
on fragments of glass made into a unity
See the eye of the bird
Is this the eye of compassion?
breathing in
holding
breathing out
Gazing
Gazing is a kind of seeing with the heart
Let all thoughts go now…
until all that remains is the gaze of your heart
breathing in
holding
breathing out
STARTING FROM YOUR HEART
SEND COMPASSION OUT
TO THE WORLD
