Tao te Ching + meditation

The Tao te Ching. Ever heard of it? After the peace rally, I’ve taken a few weeks to regroup, rest, settle in and let what’s next “come to me.” I did this because since 2016, I’ve posted here nearly every week and I just needed a little break. The Tao te Ching emerged as a central part of something I’m working on, as a result of feeling called to do more drawing.

In the past few weeks, I have “gone within.” I’ve spent some time in silence, hiking, visiting family, and feeling the need to get creative. Apparently, it’s an “October” thing. In 2016, I wrote Finding Your Spirituality Through Creativity. Almost exactly a year later I wrote, Spirituality and Creativity. Maybe it’s not an October thing – I have created mandalas galore on this website – but it seems that this time of year I feel the need to retreat and to create art.

I came out of meditation one day and had an idea. (This often happens to me after meditating. It’s one of the great benefits of meditation – the creative ideas I get). I have been wanting to create art as meditation. It’s effectively art with a higher purpose. I got the idea that I would meditate on a chapter of the Tao te Ching (the link takes you to the public domain version; I’m using the Tao te Ching, Annotated & Explained, Skylight Illuminations version). After meditating, I’ll create a mandala with that chapter in mind.

The mandalas

It’s always the same with the mandalas I create: there’s no set plan, no set way they need to be. I just let the process unfold. In fact, the whole reason I meditate on the Tao te Ching beforehand is so that the influence of the chapter will manifest somehow in the mandala itself. I created a “pre-mandala” as a practice before beginning:

mandala meditation

I have just completed Chapter 1, meditated on it, and created the corresponding mandala. For now, I’m just showing portions of each mandala. I want them to be a surprise when I finish them. All 81 of them.

meditation

After I create each mandala, I intend to write a “meditation” – basically, it’s a reflection of my thoughts on that particular chapter, what stood out for me, any thoughts that arose, that sort of thing.

Here’s an excerpt from my Tao te Ching, Chapter 1 meditation (reflection):

 We must live our lives in tandem with upholding the values of service and humility. In fact, I think asking “how can I be of service?” helps to guide us to our truest selves. I think that’s why Lao Tzu started this first chapter as he did. Once there was no universe, and now there is, and humans live in it. As part of the human experience, we live and interpret the world around us. If we get caught up in physical desires – the desire for materialism and other unhealthy addictions – we risk losing our way. We can always find the way – the path – but earthly – not spiritual – pursuits – can lead us on a path we don’t want.

There was more to that meditation and reflection, but I wanted to share a little of what I’d written.

Now I’m on Chapter 2 and have started the corresponding mandala. It’s not finished yet, but here’s a start:

mandala meditation

It’s going to take me awhile to finish all 81 of these. I’m not even sure what I’ll do with them when I finish. For now, I just feel called to create them. I’ll leave it to the universe to guide me in the direction I need to go after that. I have some ideas…perhaps a book with the meditations and mandalas, or doing an art show, or doing something else. I’m not sure. For once, I’m not thinking about the outcome (perhaps some of these life lessons have finally gotten through my head: BE PRESENT!). I’m just thinking about what feels good to my heart.

But, after I finish each one, I’ve been posting them on Instagram and my I & S Facebook page. You are welcome to follow along if you’re interested.