The question then becomes: Does my model for living an authentic life hold up against the inner demons of angst and agony? In those moments on the ‘razor’s edge’, I realize that I don’t have to reinvent the old wheel of karmic understanding.

I need look no further than what Buddha revealed ages ago: anyone can make peace with self-inflicted pain and suffering through awareness, which snaps the perceiver out of illusion and into seeing reality as it is in the here and now.

In this way, I keep my story lively while living in a state of evolving self realization, despite the cycle of obstacles, denseness, nuisances, nonsense, and all the dire and petty things that desperately want to derail me from my mission, my dharma to make art—and I do so daily. 

Nirvana is reality as it is.

While social conditioning may provide some benefits to society, artists must strive for firsthand information. If not, the artist becomes a cog instead of a creator.

If there is any doubt that we are all subject to brainwashing, consider this: we are indoctrinated from birth to believe that we are members of different tribes and belief systems: American, Russian, French, Catholic, to Jewish, Hindu, and so on.

See reality as it is, which is also art and Zen. 

Prepare yourself now.

When an issue arises, listen to your own thoughts and where they will take you, if you let them.

Instead of saying that was disappointing, say that was revealing; hear and feel the difference.

Then, sit back, and take stock of your self-discipline. 

Remember, to create without motive, without concern for an audience is liberation, which is a decision each artist must make.

Art for arts sake, however, isn’t born to compete; it is born for no other reason than to be here now, which is its material destiny, the goal of the yogi, and the nature of Buddha, a prince who became an ascetic and found that the middle path—the path between extremes—was the way to Nirvana.

Buddha’s farewell admonition to his students (relevant to all artists) was: “Be lamps unto yourselves, and strive unremittingly.”

From An Artist Empowered:

The Enlightened One explained that the two extremes of vulgar pleasure (debauchery) and denying the needs of the body for spiritual attainment (self-mortification) are not to be practiced by one who is enlightened.

This path of moderation shouldn’t be misconstrued as a synonym for indifference, mediocrity, or a quick fix for manic depression.

Keep in mind that Siddhartha, the one who would become the Buddha, had lived a life of extremes: he was born a prince who renounced a life of privilege to become a Samana, a wandering ascetic.