Mind Altering Quotes

I have one space left for my class FLOW: THE MAGIC OF MAKIN ART. If you want to come, call me 206.328.2073. You can read more about it and get on the email notification list here

=> http://www.VitalArts.net/events/

I though you might enjoy these quotes that I will be handing out in class on Saturday.

What spaces do they open up for you?

What new perspective?

QUOTES FOR THE CLASS

One of the surest tests [of the superiority or inferiority of a poet] is the way in which a poet borrows. Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn; the bad poet throws it into something which has no cohesion. A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time, or alien in language, or diverse in interest. - T.S. Eliot,

Good artists copy; great artists steal. - Picasso

Painting isn't an aesthetic operation; it's a form of magic designed as mediator between this strange hostile world and us. - Picasso A long, long time is needed to be young. -- Picasso I like to live poor... but with a lot of money. -- Picasso It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. -- Picasso

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. - Picasso

There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who transform a yellow spot into the sun. - Picasso

We painted like children in the face of nature. - Henri Matisse

When I started to paint, I felt transported into a kind of paradise. - Henri Matisse

My advice is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate. -- Thornton Wilder.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. - Buddha

In one of the spate of dance movies of a few years ago, the beautiful woman asks the gorgeous man, "Do you know how to dance?"

"I'm Cuban, of course, I know how to dance," he says.

This response reminds me of something I read about Bali.
They have no word for artist. And that is because, like the Cubans and dancing, they presume that if you are Balinese, of course, you are an artist. - Reflections from William

Blessings,

William

P.S. Speaking of great quotes here's a magic message from Uncle Mike --

If you ask me, Www, I'd say the main thing to keeping the main thing the main thing, is reminding yourself as often as you can of where the most joy will come from.

Ain't no thing -

The Universe

If you aren't getting these magic messages from Uncle Mike, read my review of Mike's goodies including this fabulous freebee.

Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/3yu6yz

P.P.S. You have my permission to share this story with no more than three people.

Here Is What Happened To Matisse…

Here is what happened to Matisse the first time he took up brush to paint –

“When I started to paint, I felt transported into a kind of paradise.”

He’s talking about flow. He’s talking about the right brain. He’s talking about the Buddha brain. He’s talking about conscious action. He’s talking about presence.

Art of any sort has the ability to put you into the graceful state of flow. When you are in flow, you enjoy what you’re doing. You lose self-consciousness. Your sense of time changes. It disappears completely. It stops dead in frozen, perfect moments. Or it flies.

If you’re in the Seattle area on Nov. 8th 2008, you can join us for FLOW AND THE MAGIC OF MAKING ART. Go here for details.

=> http://www.VitalArts.net/events/

And do sign up to be informed of future classes.

IF YOU’RE NOT going to be in Seattle, paint. Get books on making art. Visit the libraries of the universe. Go to art museums. Paint. Draw. Sketch. Doodle. Use your right brain. You could start with the amazing book -- DRAWING FROM THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0874774195/williamwittmannvA/


Do watch this video about the right brain done by Jill Bolte Taylor, a woman who had a brain breakdown and lost her left brain, thereby making her completely right brained. Fascinating. (Note: Oprah has some interviews with her on-line as well.)

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html


P.S. If you are not in the Seattle area on Nov. 8th, you can learn about flow in my Life Giving Manual - THE MAGIC FORMULA -- How to Magically Attract the Life You Most Want.

Go for it => http://tinyurl.com/28gmm2

Obviously, even if you are in Seattle you’ll benefit immensely when you get it.

Go for it => http://tinyurl.com/28gmm2

The Other Thing That Happens Is…

It’s 5:17 in the DARK morning, I am half way through my workout, but I want to put my artistic vision that blossomed in my heart during the night onto paper. I want to do it NOW.

I find the paper… Do some physical therapy… breathe hard while I get the crayon… do some more PT… breathe… Oh! Blue tape, that will be good. Tape it down… more PT…

…Enough, you get the idea… The Muse had grabbed me. Again.

The other thing that happens when you engage in life in general and in art in particularly is that passion or more exactly enthusiasm fills you with god spirit. The muse grabs you with a vision and pulls you forward into life. The project must be done. The vision must be fulfilled.

Eckhart Tolle talks about three things that fulfill the goal of staying present while DOING -- Acceptance, Enjoyment, or Enthusiasm. (Do you remember that ENTHUSIASM means to have God within. Cool, right?)

One of the indicators that you are in flow is – enjoy what you’re doing.

Flow is the antidote to fear. Obviously, you have noticed the fear mongers are at work in the world…

Stop listening to them. Stop it.

Be in flow more.

You can learn about flow in my class -- Flow and the Magic of Making Art.

Join us – Flow and the Magic of Making Art -- A One Day Class, Nov. 8, 2008

You can find details and register here => http://www.VitalArts.net/events/

+++ [] +++

If you are not in the Seattle area on Nov. 8th you can learn about flow in my Life Giving Manual – THE MAGIC FORMULA -- How to Magically Attract the Life You Most Want.

Go for it => http://tinyurl.com/28gmm2

+++ [] +++

You can also see some pretty art and a story about my father and art.

Even if you don’t want to take the class or live on another continent.

=> http://www.VitalArts.net/events/ click through to the class.


*** PLEASE ***

While you’re there, sign up for the no-obligation class notification list and I will let you know about classes I offer. If you don’t want to know about classes, don’t sign up. Fair enough?

You can join the list or the class here => http://www.VitalArts.net/events/

Antidote your fears – get into flow.

Blessings,

William

Presencing

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
-William Blake

Zen and the poets have been addressing presence for centuries. What’s new is that everyone is paying attention to presence now, not just a handful of monks.

Presence lives outside of language so I find it hard to talk about. Blake’s poem points to it brilliantly.

Let me take a stab at it, too.

You travel into Presence often, but perhaps you don’t fully grasp the importance of this. If you’re like most humans, you don’t even notice it.

When you are fully present, the chatter in your mind goes still. You experience this as the peace which passeth understanding.

When you start to notice you are having these experiences of peace and stillness, you can begin to learn to encourage them.

When your mind quiets, your mind’s obsessive concerns and fears no longer drive you. You may even feel at one with all.

This is good, right?

You can think of your frightened, controlling mind as your ego. Yogis and eastern traditions call it the “monkey” mind, which is short for “a drunken monkey who has just be stung by a scorpion” mind.

Have you been there? Of course, you have.

Another name for this mind is the competitive mind. I like this one because it points to the fear that underlies and drives the competitive mind. Yet other names for this are the survival mind and the lizard brain. (See Related Article below.)


What Do You Get When This Mind Is Silent?

· You get the peace which passeth understanding.

· You get a small tastes of enlightenment that gradually become huge tastes and last for ever longer periods.

· You feel one with all.

· You live in the pleasures of flow. (See Related Article below.)

· You feel safe and supported by the whole. There is no need for faith. You become faith itself.

· You get “heaven in a wild flower”.

· You “hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”


How, Then, Do You Still the Mind?

You still the mind by being present. When you become present, the mind is still. It has no choice.

“But William, I thought that when I was still, I got to in presence? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”

“Probably… Hmm…

“Let me see, the confusion comes by using the very similar and related words, Presence with a capital P and present with a lower case p.
“Presence is sacred and although you are part of it and it fills you absolutely, you don’t control it. Being present – being right here, right now – is something you have some control over.

“When you become present, you become still and you enter into Presence or more accurately, you experience Presence directly.

“Does that help?”

You can use silence as a doorway to stillness. Hang out in the silence of nature. Even amongst roaring rivers or melodious birdsong, you will experience this silence and the stillness underneath it.

I have written two books that will show you easy methods to explore Presence. Obviously, they will be of immense help to you.

· Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace
· Looking Deeply into Presence


Here’s the Cliff Note Version for Becoming Present

· First, get some silence.

· Go outdoors – somewhere peaceful. It needn’t be a national park. A city park will do – anywhere you have a spot of nature.

· Practice Owl Eyes – Lightly gaze at something in the distance. Keep your eyes resting there while you taken in as much of your peripheral vision to the right and left as you can.

Slowly, deeply breathe in your belly. Now, while maintaining all of this, take in your peripheral vision above and below. Do this for a few minutes. Your mind has quieted. You’ll notice you have moved into stillness. Yes?


What did you notice when you tried this? More peace I hope.

Practice every day.

Invest in Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for the full versions.

Smile.


Flow

Although Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the guru of flow, doesn’t talk about Presence in his books, his observations imply that you be present to get into the lovely state of flow. All of his strategies for experiencing flow, therefore, would be good for becoming present.

Being in flow may be the most important goal of my personal practices. When I am in flow, everything, well, flows. I live in Heaven.

You love flow, too. You’ve been there often.

I want getting into flow to be high on your list of things you want from your Deliberate Living Program.

(Read my article, The Delightful Magic of Flow, below.)


Resources to Guide Your Way

1. The Scent Of Green Papaya – I saw this film in the theatre when it came out. The first five minutes into it were some of the slowest in my movie watching life.

Then I got it, “Oh, this is about Presence.”

This Vietnamese film takes place in French Saigon.

With almost no dialog, a young servant, by simply cleaning and cooking, models how you can move in your world fully awake. It’s lovely. You will emerge from the experience as after a lovely meditation.

2. Eckhart Tolle has written several wonderful books on the subject and I recommend them as a starting point on the subject of presence.

1. A New Earth
2. Stillness Speaks
3. The Power of Now

Find them here.

3. Again, I recommend my two books Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for working with Presence vs. talking about it or explaining it.

4. Obviously, you can read books on Zen to get a feel for it.

See Fun Resource on Spirituality.


5. The poets have visited Presence often and written beautifully about it.

Mary Oliver is my favorite. Invest in her books so you can dip into them when you want. Her books plus The Sound of Water, a book of haiku, reside by my bed. Find some books here.

Google Mary Oliver Poems – read some. Then invest in her books.

Browse the poetry books and poems I have posted in Poetry and Cool Ideas section.

Also here – Poetry of Life for titles.