Sunday, October 11, 2009

Passion Pit

Not only is this video great, but the song is beautiful, and deserving of any dancer's booty shaking.

Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born

This painting is tantric in its indulgent sensuality. Even though Padmasambhava is sitting alone on his lotus throne, this aura of mystical energy is exuded through the vibrancy of the color tone. As a vibration of light, there is a tonal quality, a low frequency mantra that one can quite clearly feel. Although the colors in the background are quite subdued blue and red, they remain vibrantly clear. The landscape appears energetic, verging on tempestuous. The clouds appear to be moving swiftly and the water is churning. The trees almost look like fire, and there is a circle of smoke encircling a mountain. It has the feel of charnel grounds. It seems like this is a sublime rendering of the mastery of samsara. The elements of air, earth, fire and water create a 3 dimensional mandala, in the center of which Padmasambhava sits upon a lotus cushion. He has one face and two hands. He is sitting in a relaxed posed. He is crowned, and his long hair falls over his shoulders. In his right hand he holds a vajra. There is a sublime symmetry that is more a feeling than something one sees. The symmetry of it hits the observer along points in ones body. It is a current of energy, a vibration of light that is sound. A banner is hanging from his staff, a sign of victory. The gold adorning his robe erupts with vibrancy from the surface of the image, mirroring the light of the observers mind and returning it on the same current. It is very easy to imagine tantric art in terms of energy wavelengths. There is a palpable presence to the images that is evoked purposefully by a master, or sublime artist, in Thinley Norbu's words. The creativity of the artist is to render something sublime with coarse materials. This painting seems to be a representation of a danger inherent not on in Tantra, but in the rendering of the painting. It evokes both the dangerous potential of Tantra and the sublime beauty of it. Even the air, which feels empty, is simultaneously full. There is a saturation of energy, catalyzed by ritual empowerment that crystallizes in the materials of the painting, its vajra body.