[MD] The New Physics and Cosmology Dialogues

[MarshaV]

>'The New Physics and Cosmology Dialogues with the Dalai Lama' edited 
>by Arthur Zajonc.


"TU WEIMING: ...
    What is experiential understanding?  The Chinese have developed 
epistemological concepts about this, but the most fruitful area is in 
art.  A very simple example from painting is the argument against the 
idea that a painter simply tries to depict what is out there.  The 
most a painter is able to do by depicting what is out there is what 
the Chinese call form-likeness.  Form-likeness describes not just the 
veracity but the childishness of the painter.  A mature painter would 
be able to do something more than simply describe what is out 
there.  His vision has to be more than simply photographic.  The 
painter is enjoined, not simply to depict what is out there, but to 
be involved in a spiritual communion with the object of study, of 
understanding.  It's not just a mystic notion.  The familiarity with 
the object of study becomes so integrated into your own experience 
that it becomes an extension of your body.  A master was asked by a 
student how to paint a mountain.  The student said he had already 
refined all the techniques and knew how to do it very, very 
well.  But the master was not happy with the product because it was 
just the form-likeness of the mountain.  So the master said, "Forget 
about painting.  Go to the mountains and live there for a 
while.  Enjoy walking there to familiarize yourself with the 
mountain, to involve yourself in a spiritual communion with the 
mountain."  The poets describe the mountain, and it's very much like 
the mountain here in Dharamsala.  You never see the mountain, but you 
sense that you are in the midst of it.  You do not see it because you 
are an inside participant.  So, the idea is to ask the artist to 
cultivate a sense of taste, a feeling about the mountain.  Then, when 
the artist is ready, he will be able to express himself in a kind of 
creative joint enterprise between what the mountain evokes in him and 
how he is able to respond."
      (P.218)



Such a wonderful invitation...










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Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.........
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