Second pillar of wisdom
The first pillar of wisdom came from Buddhism, the principle of non-attachment. The second pillar of my philosophy comes from Daoism, the principle of Wu Wei. Wu Wei means simply “without force”. The desire for things, the need for certainty, that is the primary motivation for evil. The primary method of obtaining those things is force. So the first step is to relinquish the attachment, the desire for an object. The second is to relinquish the method for obtaining that object.
The use of force is the essence of everything humanity considers evil. Rape is evil, it is forcing another person to have sex against their will. Theft is evil, it is forcing someone to give against their will. Murder is evil, it is forcing another person to die against their will. Do you see? The common element to all these evil things is the use of force. Daoism does allow the use of force for self-defense, but only as a last resort.
Force has several ways of being used. It can be manipulative, rather than brute. To lie or twist the facts is a manipulative method of force. It can be intimidation. It can be through the use of excessive laws and regulations. One of the sayings of Daoism is that “A land of many laws is a land of many criminals”. Forcing people to do the right thing is just as evil as any other use of force.
By totally rejecting the use of force we negate the possibility of evil.
Think about the evil in the world today. Terrorists using suicide bombers to try and force political and religious realignment. Think of our reaction, sending troops over there to force democracy upon them. Both sides fully committed to forcing the other side to do the right thing. The main cause of evil is the over concern with the righteousness of others. This is a trap we can avoid.
Now, I can’t stop people from using force. That’s a trap, too. All I can do is control myself. To commit myself not to use force. To live my life without forcing others to do anything.
So how to live this principle on a daily basis? The opposite of force is grace. I make a commitment to live a life of grace. It can be when I ride my motorcycle. I ride smooth and graceful. In photography, I don’t force my vision, I react to what is there. In dealing with other people I let them go first, to choose first. I make a commitment to speak the truth and not manipulate others. To be, as the Bible says, full of grace and truth.
Read MoreEvery artist needs a philosophy
When I was a kid everyone used to tell me what a great artist I was. I was very good at drawing and copying what I saw. My eye hand coordination was excellent. I worked at 6 Flags amusement park doing portraits and caricatures during the summer. I was pretty good. But I wasn’t really an artist.
Art is about the expression of truth as the artist sees it. When I was a kid I didn’t understand much of anything, I had a good childhood and I just went along with the flow. I had no great truth that I had discovered about myself that needed expressing.
Truth leads to understanding and understanding leads to the ability to live in harmony. That’s my point of view anyway. So I have set out to understand three truths. One, understanding the truth of nature. Two, understanding the truth of my fellow man. Three, understanding the truth of myself.
With the desire for these truths firmly entrenched as a part of me I can now follow my feelings about what I see to guide the camera. What I see is filtered through my emotions. I need both a philosophy to filter that emotion and the technical skill with the camera to capture it.
If you want your art to have more meaning, you need to have a deeper and more meaningful philosophy. Technical skills alone will not create great art. Your philosophy needs to be something that is unique to you for you to have a unique creative eye.
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