Artist Spotlight: Hartwig Koppedelaney
Word of the Day: Zen
ARTIST COMMENTS
Hartwig Kopp-Delaney is a German mystical digital artist and photographer that expresses duality and transduality - oneness - love and hate - the split and separated mind trough art. He tries to show a possible way out of the inner conflict and stress.
The artist creates pictures about the path, the inner journey, the experiences, the sufferings, the tragic and the funny illusions that he had. And probably the greatest adventure to be explored is the journey to the source. Looking at his artworks you will discover elements like: Buddhism, psychology, spirituality, symbolism and of course alchemy and the holy grail.
"It's my pleasure to help people that their stressful beliefs - about life, death, other people, or themselves - shift.A couple of days ago I was asked what I consider the most important things in my life and I said: Unconditional love and awareness." ~ H.Koppdelaney
DEFINITION
Zen is a type of Buddhism that began in China and flourished in Japan. Practicing Zen Buddhism includes meditating while observing the flow of your breath in and out.
Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of a Chinese word, ch'an, which comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "thought," "absorption," or "meditation." And meditation is at the heart of Zen, along with an emphasis on self-control and insight. Most Zen Buddhists have a teacher they look to for wisdom and guidance as they practice.
According to tradition, it was the Indian monk Bodhidharma who brought Zen Buddhism to China in the 5th century C.E. A verse, ascribed to him, sums up this teaching succinctly:
A special transmission outside the scriptures,
Not dependent upon the written word,
Directly pointing to the human heart,
Seeing into its nature and awakening.
Although the Zen masters were well versed in the written teachings, they understood that unless they are put into practice they will not fulfil the Buddha's original mission - to understand the nature of human suffering and to find a way out of it.
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