The Artist

The artist and his or her genius (pratibhâ) is given a high place in Indian aesthetics. Yet, this alone is not sufficient. One must have training and skill. At its highest level, the artist is expected to achieve a certain degree of purity and to aim at spiritual transcendence. This aspect, interestingly, is highlighted more in the traditions of music, fine art, sculpture and architecture than in literature. Meditation and visualization through meditation play a very important role for the visual artist as well as the musician
“ Because I wasn’t able to draw the branches of a tree harmoniously,(Master Osman) would slap me so hard that amid bitter tears, forests would burgeon before me.”
from Orhan Pamuk’s ‘My Name is Red’
It is said in the Sri Maha Vajra Bhairava Tantra thus: “the painter must be a good man, no sluggard, not given to anger, holy, learned, self–controlled, devout and charitable, free from avarice- should be his character’’