Last night I listened to an art critic. He was passionate and well-spoken. He also missed the point about art.

He spoke of many things. When he told us that art’s purpose is to raise our consciousness, I had another thought.

First, it’s no one’s business what art does for the individual. The aesthetic experience is personal. Then, even if we were to accept the critic’s idea about art’s purpose, it would be that art has the power to raise awareness. Consciousness is already perfect, and requires no help from us.

Take this at face value. Test it out yourself and report back. 

I hear now and then that: “Hey, man, that’s some heavy stuff on your site.”

Yes, I would have to respond. Although it’s not heavy; in fact, it’s light because it is the light.

The more you are willing to confront your own self, the lighter you become. Now is the time to face the questions that needle about in your noodle in your most lucid of moments.

And the universe is not without a sense of humor. True faith after all demands as much.

Read the Man with the Dog—see Inside Preview link in the sidebar. 

Last night another dream sequence of the rare kind appeared.

I was with another student in a college classroom when we realized that we hadn’t done our assignment—a major essay on the book used for that course. which was due the next day. How could we have forgotten? There was angst and confusion.

Then, at this point, a dynamic shift in perception occurred. I turned to my schoolmate, and told him that none of this matters. This is a dream, and I had graduated from college many years ago. All was now well.

This type of experience is known as lucid dreaming—not only knowing that you are dreaming but making a conscious action to alter its outcome. This dynamic in the waking world is also the firsthand source of great art—seeing things for what they are in the present moment.

"Underneath the superficial self, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unknown self—if you become aware of it—the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is.

“You are a function of this total galaxy, bounded by the Milky Way, and this galaxy is a function of all other galaxies.

“You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes. You look and look, and one day you are going to wake up and say, ‘Why, that’s me!’ And in knowing that, you know that you never die. You are the eternal thing that comes and goes that appears—now as John Jones, now as Mary Smith, now as Betty Brown—and so it goes, forever and ever and ever.”

—Alan Watts, The Tao of Philosophy

While there is no denying that hardship is universal, the true artist confronts a particular form of challenges.

Creating art for art’s sake is on the one hand invigorating and liberating, while simultaneously it is life on the edge. To succeed in this dharma, the artist must find an audience that comprehends his art language, which, in turn, sustains his being.

While there are things this artist must do to maintain his authenticity, he must also tend to and maintain his morale—which is a key factor in survival of both body and soul.

A sense of humor, especially about oneself, helps deflect the ego while placing things in perspective toward an unwavering life of right effort—as the Buddha taught.