Session 3 (Sep 24-30): The “I” – Seeking Simplicity Within Oneself

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Session 3 expands on a theme introduced during the last session, namely that all of our outwardly directed efforts to find simplicity and beauty “out there” in the world will come to naught if we cannot find the calm center in our own deepest selves, and from which all creative works naturally spring forth. There are many artists who believe that their best works come about as a kind of dynamic interplay between self and environment; via a co-creation, or a communion, with nature.

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Essay (19 pages, pdf/3.5 mb)

Exercises (extract from main essay; 1 page, pdf/137 kb)

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Links

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Chuang Tzu

Biography of Chuang Tzu (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The Way of Chuang Tzu (Burton watson, pdf/826 kb)
 

Henri Cartier-Bresson
Decisive Moment (YouTube video, 20 min)
 

John Daido Loori
Introduction to Zen Meditation: The Still Point (YouTube video,  10 min)
Stalking the Awakened Eye, an extract from The Zen of Creativity
Finding the Still Point (instructional booklet on Zazen)
 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
TED talk on "Flow" (20 min)
Powerpoint slides on "Flow" (pdf/1.2 mb)
Essay on "Happiness and Creativity"
 

General References
Photography as Meditation (Torsten Andreas Hoffman)
Tao of Photography (Philippe L. Gross and S.I. Shapiro)
Tao of Photography (Tom Ang)
God is At Eye Level (Jan Phillips)

Zen of Creativity (John Daido Loori)
 

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