When I was younger, I would draw everything out of my head. It was so simple to pull complex images out of my imagination and put them on paper. This is something that has gradually faded from my drawings, which is unfortunate. Even though learning how to draw from life has dramatically improved my drawing ability, the raw imaginative power just isn't there any more.
While I was flipping through my textbook, I came across a section about visualization in meditative practice (Trainor 86). This was a new concept for me, because my initial idea of Buddhist meditation requires focusing on nothing or the breath. The use of visualizations as a valuable technique for reaching a meditative state is something that I wanted to try. I think that drawing actually makes this process easier, because you are creating a tangible representation of the visualized object or person. Keeping the image in mind is necessary to successfully complete a drawing. This also seemed like a perfect opportunity to stretch my rusty imagination.
The visualization exercise outlined in my textbook comes from the "Garland of Meditative Techniques" and is intended to connect the practitioner with divine wisdom. It states,
While I was flipping through my textbook, I came across a section about visualization in meditative practice (Trainor 86). This was a new concept for me, because my initial idea of Buddhist meditation requires focusing on nothing or the breath. The use of visualizations as a valuable technique for reaching a meditative state is something that I wanted to try. I think that drawing actually makes this process easier, because you are creating a tangible representation of the visualized object or person. Keeping the image in mind is necessary to successfully complete a drawing. This also seemed like a perfect opportunity to stretch my rusty imagination.
The visualization exercise outlined in my textbook comes from the "Garland of Meditative Techniques" and is intended to connect the practitioner with divine wisdom. It states,
"With these words one should meditate on Emptiness: 'I possess in my essence the adamantine nature which is the knowledge of Emptiness." Next one should imagine [the]... lunar disk as transformed into the Lady Prajnaparamita. She bears a headdress of twisted hair; she has four arms and one face. With two of her hands she makes the gesture of expounding the Dharma.... In her hand she golds a blue lotus with a prajnaparamita book upon it." (Trainor 87).With that in mind, I set out to draw my version of the Lady Prajnaparamita (who's name means "the perfection of wisdom") while contemplating the idea of emptiness.
It should be noted that this is a very Caucasian representation of the Lady Prajnaparamita...
One of the things that derailed my meditative experience was the fact that, without the aid of a live model, my grasp of anatomy is tenuous at best. The addition of extra arms further complicated the process. I had to run to the internet, and at one point my computer's web cam, in order to figure out what all her hands should look like. My visualization technique is not quite sharp enough to keep that level of detail. However, holding a mental image was surprisingly calming. This was a very goal oriented session, which made it easier to tune out the rest of the world.
The idea of emptiness was also very interesting to me. I had always associated feeling empty with lethargy and depression. I don't think that this is the type of emptiness that the Buddha would recommend. Emptiness could refer to the feeling that remains once attraction and aversion have ceased. This is not something I have ever personally experienced, but it seems like a worthy goal.
Also, I made sure not to look up other representations of the Lady Prajnaparamita before I started drawing so that I didn't get any outside images stuck in my head. For those of you who are interested in a more traditional representation, here you go.
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