ALTER/ALTAR MYSELF THROUGH ART

 As a PILGRIM and ARTIST, I seek to alter/altar myself. I travel my journey looking for THE magical interactions with CREATION that will transform me and honor my soulfulness.

Everyone understands that the word “alter” means “change.” And we might all agree on the positive outcome that this proverb expresses “A rolling stone gathers no moss” –that we stay youthfully unencumbered if we allow ourselves to keep moving to new physical and metaphorical locations. Using another figurative comparison…isn’t it desirable to be like maturing snakes shedding old dry outgrown skins of our former selves and with that skin—stale  un-useful thoughts and behaviors?

But what does it mean to make “altar” a verb? In the 80’s, when I was getting instruction about Buddhism from the man who served as my Master, Dr. James Yu, at Buddha Heart Village in a small town in Alabama, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that when Buddhists bow to Buddha, they are essentially bowing to the concept of an ENLIGHTENED SELF. The SELF is HOLY. Because of this HOLINESS of the SELF and all of living creation, each living spirit can be “altared”—transformed by enlightenment, thus being lifted away from the physical birth-death life cycle. Each of us is responsible for “altering” and “altaring” ourselves along our journeys from the PHYSICAL to the SPIRITUAL.

Our PHYSICAL LIFE is a process of changing and becoming, and this SPIRITUAL JOURNEY is mysterious, magical, and ultimately the only PATH for me, and I do it through my ART. My ART PILGRIMAGE holds the potential of CHANGING, EXPANDING, and MOVING ME towards BECOMING “a” Buddha—or in the very least along the pathway of being more of an ENLIGHTENED BEING. 

That’s it for today’s SOUL BLOGGING. HALLELUJAH for all of us PILGRIMS on our JOURNEYS. HALLELUJAH wishes you all a MEANINGFUL TRIP through this life. Write me and tell me about your “alter/altar” experiences. What is your AVENUE? Do you alter/altar through ART? Another way? Blessings to you all.