Chenrezig in progress. Correctly proportioned drawing and silk incarnation. © 2008 Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo
One of my mottos in life is “Take wisdom and inspiration wherever you find them.” Some days I find them calling loudly from all directions. Other days, they whisper softly or can seem to be in hiding. I think any trouble I have finding them has more to do with my not looking than with their not appearing. They’re always there, just waiting for me to look, or waving their arms around trying to get my attention.
Yesterday, I listened to Jon Stewart being interviewed by Terry Gross. Terry is my favorite interviewer in the whole world. After she talks to anyone, I find myself wanting to see their movie, listen to their music, read their book — even if it’s of a genre I don’t normally care for. If you want my attention, get interviewed by Terry Gross.
Jon Stewart already had my attention, but that’s beside the point. I never thought he’d say anything particularly relevant to making thangkas. But here’s what he said to Terry that led me to write to you today:
Creativity comes from limits, not freedom.
You may know that sacred Buddhist images are drawn within strictly defined parameters (i.e., limits). Rules for the traditional forms, whether painted or stitched, are clearly laid out by tradition. They’re prescribed in Buddhists texts. The proportional grids passed from master to student originate from yogis and practitioners who saw the Buddha and who had direct visions of enlightened beings. Correct representation is deemed essential to the spiritual effectiveness of an image.
So, people ask me, does that mean that each thangka is just a copy of ones that came before it?
Not at all!
Each new thangka is not a copy. It is an original work of art created within a framework. It is an outcome of the disciplined channeling of creativity.
Jon Stewart was talking of his own (and his colleagues’) process of creating humor: Creativity comes from limits, not from freedom. That’s my experience in making thangkas too. The structure gives me a space in which to let my creativity flow.
It’s the same in meditation. I have a dedicated space. I have a posture. I don’t simply let my mind wander. I don’t just hang out. I stake out the parameters of the corral, lay the channel, and let then let the energy flow.
Sometimes during Monsoon in Dharamsala, we had no water. Pipes broke and the torrents falling from the sky went to waste. To use that abundance, we needed to collect it in buckets, channel it in gutters, give it limits.
Here’s another tidbit of wisdom I noted down and then forgot where it came from. It was either Richard Sennet or my friend Sandy Isenstadt… One of them said:
The idea that discipline and creativity are at odds with one another is a new view, maybe 150 years old. Previously, art was seen to grow from discipline, dedication, skill, and mastery, cultivated in years of apprenticeship.
Do you use limits to channel your creativity? How do limits help you to use your energies more effectively?
So true. I can see that in “worldly” work like quilts: The most interesting pieces were made by using what happens to be there, not with bought fabrics. And there is more to this work that seems to foster creativity, it is the blessing.
Good point, Eva. Sometimes the limitation is in working with what we have and bringing forth what it has to tell, rather than getting a pre-envisioned piece from the outside.
I heard that interview too, and I agree with you – Terry Gross is one of the most engaging interviewers out there. I agree with what Jon Stewart said too. I recently went to a conference on Creativity, with the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Richard Gere and Alice Walker. His Holiness urged us to listen more to our inner world! Richard Gere said he felt all creativity was storytelling – just in different ways. That made me think too! I loved this post – it really resonated with me after being lucky enough to attend the conference last week (here in Atlanta – Emory University)
Leslie: This reminds me of Twyla Tharp’s book “The Creative Habit,” which focuses on the discipline around creating art–any kind of art. There are pearls of wisdom here.
Oh good, some new reading! I’ll look for Twyla Tharp’s book. Thanks, Alyson!
And Vickie, that creativity conference sounds great. I hadn’t heard about it. How lucky you were to be able to attend!
I can relate this to my work as an interior designer. Every project comes with its own set of challenges (i.e. client has an existing problem, structural or otherwise and I must work within those parameters) yet it is those very challenges that inspire the most creative aspects of the project!
hi leslie ~
i heard that interview too – it was great. i love jon, of course, and really enjoyed hearing about their process creating the show and such. and terry IS the great interviewer you accuse her of being!
i LOVE the image you have posted with these words – it’s so stunning to see the two pieces together – the simple outline and the colorful reality atop it.
this is an interesting topic, too, the discipline/creativity relationship. whether it’s the edges of the canvas or paper, or the silence that precedes or follows a song, we absolutely need parameters in which our art can come to life.
great post – thanks!
julie
A pleasure to read your words, Julie, especially coming from a creative blogger like you! Yes, the space around anything (edges, silence) plays an indispensable role in its becoming whatever it’s to become.
recreation… this is recreation of an idea. not creation! you created… by a set of strict rules that limit you and “force” you an already set idea. this is recreation!
a creator… is unlimited. like a god. you can be the god of your own world, unlimited. mold your own nature, create what you envision something that never existed in the likes before.
that’s art. that’s creative. that’s freedom.