What’s this “Dharma of Awakening? You may have noticed I have another blog, “Awakening to the Light”.
So, why have two?
The Awakening to the Light blog is the proposed title of a book project I’m working on- images and writing (yes, I’ve discovered I do have something to say) which relate my photography and my Buddhist practice into the same bundle-I’ve come to realize they’re both about awakening (the first regarding SEEING clearly, and the other, to living a happy, meaningful life.
This “Dharma of Awakening” presents essays that are not directly related to my image making, but are the insights regarding my own process of awakening. That awakening word, though, carries a lot of associations, and misconceptions, so I'd better be more specific in saying that this evolutionary process is about allowing myself to be- and to express more precisely who I am- through my images, my experience, and words of reflection.
Abraham Maslow used a fancier word- actualization. But it’s really not ABOUT becoming anything special, just myself. Of course, within this duality-biased matrix, that’s not the norm.
This is what I believe awakening is about… becoming more comfortable with, and trusting of one's own being. Then, fear is relaxed, and equanimity has room to flow- buoyed in a rising tide of love. For an artist, this comes through a gift of inspiration- the fuel for all meaningful creative work.