When I discovered this abandoned old car in the fields today, I thought of how even in the sad state it was in, it was rather appealing. I thought of how it must have looked when it was new, & how it must have a lot of stories it could tell. The artist who created this rusted clunker gave it character. It isn’t just any old car, it is a car that has been detailed to look old, and then lovingly placed in the field so that it creates a picture for the eye to enjoy when it is first spied. Drawing the viewer down into the field to get a closer look.
In Perfect Liberty one of the teachings is to help the seeker to enjoy not just what is seen, but to appreciate the components that brought the object to our attention. When teaching I used to show the student a piece of left over 4×4 wood with a nail hammered into it, a screw half screwed in at an angle and a what not of sorts embedded on the other side. The question to the student would be, “what do you see/feel when you take this object and hold it. Because of the objects hammered,screwed and embedded it was not easy to hold. Nor was it pretty.
Often the question left the student perplexed and curious at just what it was I wanted, or expected him/her to tell me. what I was wanting was exactly what they were giving me, a reason to explain that what we see/feel is not always what is. The wood, had history, it had begun as a seed many many years ago. That seed to grow, had first to rot into the soil it was planted or dropped on. It took many years to grow and in that time, it lived, we can only guess, a great number of lifetimes. With many changes it eventually was cut down and parts of it became building lumber. The piece we were holding, was discarded, only to be recycled into a teaching tool. The nail and screw that now were part of it, they also had undergone many changes to become the objects we were seeing.
As a therapist, I know that visually the body can tell me one thing, but when I actually lay hands on it, I will discover much much more. Though the human may tell me, “I’m fine, no really, there isn’t a problem” yet my experience, my visual and physical exam will tell me volumes.
The first of the 21 Precepts in Perfect Liberty is LIFE IS ART . Just that Precept alone, has so many teachings, so much power in it. Every day we are given the opportunity to live an artistic life. To look at the blank canvas before us, and to create something beautiful. Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When something speaks to you, stop, look deep and explore what it is saying, how is it speaking to you, and how does it make you feel. Enjoy the moment,
The elation for me today was the joy of living in Perfect Liberty, waking with a smile on my face, and a prayer in my heart. The relief was when the minister told me that I could write about PL the way I wanted to, in my words, because it is my opinion, my expression, and the heaviness that had been building slipped away. The church is a formal structure, it is a building, it is on a solid foundation, I am me, a believer, a writer, an artist and I want to continue to explore my faith with a writer’s “eye” and artist’s “feeling/touch”. Like the wind I want to be ONE with the Universe, free to BE.
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