"Nearly everyone has had some longing to be an artist. Most of us
probably spent some time at painting, writing, dancing, or music-making. Whether
it has fallen away, or we still keep our hand in, we remember our touches with
the great world of art, a world of beauty and harmony, of similitudes and stark
contrasts, of repetition and variation, of compelling rhythms like those of the
cosmos itself. We know, too, that while we can all appreciate art, only a few
can create masterworks or perform them as virtuosi.
Now I wish to invite you to undertake the greatest art work of
all, an undertaking which is for everyone, forever, never to be put aside, even
for a single day. I speak of the purpose of life, the thing without which every
other goal or achievement will lose its meaning and turn to ashes. I invite you
to step back and look with your artist’s eye at your own life. Consider it
amorphous material, not yet deliberately crafted. Reflect upon what it is, and
what it could be. Imagine how you will feel, and what those around you will
lose, if it does not become what it could be. Observe that you have been given
two marvelous instruments of love and service: the external instrument, this
intricate network of systems that is the body; the internal, this subtle and
versatile mind.
Ponder the deeds they have given rise to, and the deeds they can
give rise to.
And set to work. Sit for meditation, and sit again. Every day
without fail, sick or well, tired or energetic, alone or with others, at home or
away from home, sit for meditation, as great artists throw themselves into their
creations. As you sit, you will have in hand the supreme hammer and chisel; use
it to hew away all unwanted effects of your heredity, conditioning, environment,
and latencies. Bring forth the noble work of art within you! My earnest wish is
that one day you shall see, in all its purity, the effulgent spiritual being you
really are"
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