Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

During the week I continued working on the three Sacred City pieces. This is how they are developing.

Brighten your summer yourself

Thought for the Week -

I'm not sure what the weather is like in your part of the world but here in Ireland we've had rain and grey clouds all summer. Without sunshine a number of people are beginning to get depressed. Those who can are taking their holidays where they are guaranteed sunshine. Others are resigned to a dull grey time in what's left of our summer.

Having said that, there are a lot of people who are happy, even among the depressing grey clouds. How do they do it, while most people around are in a dull grey state of mind?

Focus on something brighter

Is it because they don't see the greyness? Could it be that their focus is on something other than the dull weather? Where do they find their sunshine? They must put their attention on something brighter than the darkness in their physical world.

Love is something that always brightens us. If we do something we love, think of someone we love, our attitude brightens, our whole world lightens up. We begin to smile a bit more, we see a bit of sunshine peeking between the clouds. Our brightness shines into others, adding a little of the love we have into their lives.

So the solution to our dull environment is not a change it the weather outside but a brighter inner focus on what we love. This love will radiate to those around you.

Vibrations

Have you ever noticed what happens when you meet someone who is angry? The way it works with me is that I become angry in sympathy with them. If I'm in an area with them but don't have any direct interaction with them, I will try and leave the area. I don't want to pick up any of their angry vibrations.

The same thing happens with a person who has love in their heart. You pick up their sense of happiness and it lightens you.

Recently I met a friend whom I hadn't seen for a few months. It was good to be around her, she is such a bright and caring person. She loves what she works at and loves her family completely. I was happier because we had met. Her core happiness rubbed off on me and I had a brighter attitude because of her.

Give Love

This is not something that can be faked. It only comes if we are genuinely happy and love what we do. The easiest way of getting love into your life is to give love. Love needs to flow from one Soul to another. It’s not something you can possess or hold onto. If we can find something we enjoy doing that has a beneficial effect for another Soul, that will probably be a good place to start.

You will begin to discover that the more love you give the more love you get. Your attitude brightens; you are a little happier. This grows bit by bit. It reflects into the lives of others and their lives brighten a little. After a few weeks or months you look around and see that your life has changed. It is brighter, it is happier and there is more love.

You have learned to brighten your summer yourself and brighten others around you in the process.

News:

The Journey of Soul

I’ll be at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in Dublin’s RDS in October and they have given me a lecture spot on two days. Here’s what I plan to present there…

St Stephen’s Green

Last weekend, on Saturday and Sunday 23rd and 24th August, I was exhibiting my work, along with over a hundred other artists, on the railings of St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. Saturday was a wash out with a lot of rain but Sunday lived up to its name with the sun shining for most of the day.

There were lots of visitors on Sunday, family, friends, relations and clients. Pictured below are friends and clients Frrucio and Olga who called by on Sunday.

Inspirational Quote:

“It is love that imparts vitality to our minds and hearts and enables it to germinate. The law of love will bring to you all necessity for your spiritual growth and maturity.
“Therefore, if you desire love, try to realise that the only way to get love is to give love. That the more you give, the more you get, and the only way in which you can give is to fill yourself with it, until you become a magnet of love.”

Paul Twitchell, Stranger by the River.

My Inner Guide helped me pass my driving test

Thought for the Week -

“My Inner Guide, the Mahanta, helped me pass my driving test” a good friend told me recently. How did that happen? I asked. Here’s a synopsis of what he told me...

“When I went to the driving test centre there were a few other guys there. They complained about having to do the test and generally had a negative attitude to it all. That wasn’t how I saw it. I had asked my inner guide to be with me during the test and knew it would be a positive experience whatever way it turned out.

“When I met the examiner he asked me a few questions and then we went out to the car. I opened the door for him and also opened both rear passenger doors for the Mahanta (Inner Guide or Guardian Angel) so he could choose whichever he prefered. When I sat in the driving seat the examiner, a nice pleasant gentleman, said to me “I’m here to help you pass your test”. He then went on to explain how we would proceed with the test and how he would give directions, etc.

“At one point while we waited in traffic, the examiner asked me “Do you believe in God?” I said yes. He then asked “Do you believe in guardian angels?” My answer was “I certainaly do, there's one sitting right next to me in the car".

At the end of the test he told me I had done very well He needed to do some desk work and came out a few minutes later and congratulated me, as I had indeed passed the test. I thanked him and inwardly I thanked the Mahanta (Inner Guide or Guardian Angel).

“After the test, I was on cloud nine. My Guide and I had a wonderful trip home.”

It is refreshing to meet someone who has such a real and practical relationship with their Inner Guide or Guardian Angel. His act of opening the rear passenger door for his Guide reinforces the reality of his presence. While I regularly will have an inner conversation with my Guide, I don’t tend to make a place for him in my physical world. It is probably something I should do to bring a significant part of my inner life into my physical life. Then he can be with me when I pass my tests too.

News:

St Stephens Green

This weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 22nd – 24th August will see the railings of St. Stephens Green in Dublin covered in pictures and paintings by over a hundred artists. It’ll be a colourful place for a stroll over the weekend. I’ll be there somewhere on Saturday and Sunday showing my work.

Now Advertising

Here’s another ad I spotted which continues the theme of living in the now or making Every moment Count.

Inspirational Quote:

“We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides."

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica.

While going through my holiday photos, a photo from the Twelve Apostles struck me. It reminded me of an image I had seen in a dream which I had drawn in my sketch book. It is going to be part of the Sacred City piece. I did a bit of work on it to see how it might look as the Cliff Castle which I had seen in the dream.

Original sketch

Photo at the Twelve Apostles in Victoria, Australia.

Cliff Castle developed from the sketch and photo.

Help from our inner self

Thought for the Week -

Here’s a nice story which illustrates how we can get help from our inner self through meditation or contemplation.

I was talking to Anne (not her real name) a while ago and she was telling me about two pictures she was doing for her granddaughters. She was painting an angel for each of them. The image she had was of an angel with her hand held out. Drawing the hand in this position was going to be difficult, so she drew her hands closed in prayer fashion with a flower between them.

After meditating on the pictures it came to her that the angel with the helping hand was for her older granddaughter who was six. This girl was at the stage where she may need the helping hand of an angel. The younger granddaughter, who was about two years old, needed to be watched over by the angel with the flower.

Ann then started to paint the second angel with the outstretched hand. When she came to painting the hand it happened in just three brush strokes. The hand looked perfect. It was that easy and she was thrilled it worked so well.

When she gave the pictures to her granddaughters the older one queried the different hand positions. Ann explained her insight from her meditation and it made perfect sense to her granddaughter.

As she is still young her connection with her inner self is still open. As we grow older we have to learn how to survive physically and we focus on our physical world often loosing our connection with our inner worlds. Contemplation is a way of re-establishing our connection to inner worlds.

News:

Living in the Now in advertising.
This idea of living in the now is coming out into the public. Here's a few ads that illustrate the idea. One from the Shearton Hotel group and the Vodafone slogan. Vodoafone have a nice web site at the moment which features mayflies along with some words of wisdom. Here’s a link to the site if you’d like to see it.
The fact that it is so public means our awareness of this concept is growing.

Inspirational Quote:

Angels have countless suggestions, but are discreet in helping us discover answers through our own insights.
www.angelfire.com

Sacred Geometry 3-9 Dots.

This is something that appeared during that time between sleeping and waking. It was a mathematical puzzle where I was trying to get the dots to align themselves in sets of 3, in a 3 x 3 formation. It worked fine in the dream but in this drawing, aligning the corner sets so they have right angles hasn’t worked correctly. I added the background of the tree bark to create a bit of three dimensional interest.

Living in the Now

Thought for the Week -
Over the last number of weeks we’ve been travelling through Australia and New Zealand. One of the questions we’ve been asked is “Which bit did you like the best?” The answer I’ve begun to give is “This bit. Where we’ve been is in the past. We are here now and this is good now.”

There have been lots of great events, sights and experiences on this holiday but to be honest it is hard to select any one of them as better than the other. By living in the now we concentrate on what we are doing now. We are not confused by what may be coming in the future or distracted by what happened in the past.

This makes life simple. We don’t have to keep in mind the numerous things we’ve gone through in the past nor do we have to concern ourselves with what may happen in the future. This doesn’t mean we don’t plan for the future or learn from the past. It means we focus on this present moment. We do the best we can with what we have available to us.

You can only be here now, so why spend you time worrying about the past or future. Do your best now, learn from it and do it better next time. We are learning all the time. We make the most of every moment by living in the now.

News:

While visiting relatives in Auckland we went out to Waiheke Island which is about 30 minutes by fast ferry from the city. I met Paora Te Rangiuaia, a jeweller and sculptor. He has a nice flowing style in his sculptures. There is a spiritual aspect to his work which comes from his Maori, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Christian backgrounds. His father is Irish and his mother is Maori which probably accounts for multiple belief systems. His web site is www.konz.co.nz if you’d like to see his work.
Photo shows Paora’s shop on Waiheke Island.

Inspirational Quote:

“What you refer to as your “life” should more accurately be called your “life situation.” It is psychological time: past and future. Certain things in the past didn’t go the way you wanted them to go. You are still resisting what happened in the past and now you are resisting what is. Hope is what keeps you going, but hope keeps you focused on the future, and this continued focus perpetuates your denial of the NOW and therefore your unhappiness.
“Forget about your life situation for awhile and pay attention to your life. Your life situation exists in time. Your life is NOW. Your life situation is Mind-Stuff. Your life is REAL. “

-Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now