Smt. Swapna Krishnamohan
Nov 2022
The Artist and their essential quality
“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.”
― Pablo Picasso
Yes, an artist is but a receptacle of the divine. In the modern context we call it being in the ‘Flow’. When I am so deeply engrossed in my work of art, I forget space, time, and the creativity just flows. But how does this happen? Is there a magic pill or a mantra?
We can reason it to multiple things, but a recent experience of mine, revealed an attitude that could have led to the ‘flow’, and it is “Humility”. This cannot be quantified easily, as however much one may develop humility, as there’s no upper limit to it.
We have many examples, right from our Upanishads to the recent philosophical works which clearly share this idea of ‘Humility’.
From the Bhagavadgita:
“Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhur Ma Te Sango Stv Akarmani”
Meaning: You have every right to work but not expecting the fruits out of it. Let the focus be not on the fruits and never be inactive
One way of understanding this sloka of Bhagavat Geeta is by applying what Pablo Picasso said: The central idea of this work has flown through me by something bigger than me, hence I cannot take the credit for it. There begins our first step towards humility.
To be able to act as a medium by receiving such revelations, one must possess humility. Let’s take a mundane example: A low air pressure in an area generally leads to rain, and lower the air pressure, more the rain. (Correlating air pressure with ‘Ego’ and rain with ‘Revelations’).
Let’s look from different perspective, inflated Ego is considered opposite of Humility. Typically, we take Ego as the idea of thinking ‘I am above all/ I know everything/ I know the most’, which may or may not be true in reality. Another extreme of defining Ego is, thinking ‘I don’t know anything/ I cannot do it/ I am inferior to others/ This is out of my league’, which again may or may not be true. Simply saying, Ego might manifest in either of extremities.
So how to stay humble?
Well, firstly accepting oneself with utmost honesty and truth. As Subconscious plays a big part in transformation of the self, one thing that works for me – is a heartfelt prayer at bedtime, putting forth these short-comings and seeking help with sincerity. This practice helps one fine tune ones tendencies and in turn fine tune the ego, paving the way to develop humility and further to self-discovery.
Bibliography
Srimad Bhagavad Geeta Sloka chapter 2, verse 47.