Beuys once said: Everyone is an artist. Today, I want to share with you: Everyone is an awakening artist. This awakening means the opening of infinite potential—this is the artist’s self-awakening. Self-awakening is the relationship between the artist and the work. What is awakening others? It is the relationship between the work and the audience.
Art is actually a pathway, particularly in Himalayan art or Buddhist art, where it holds a very high status. As you may know, among the so-called Five Wisdoms, or Five Sciences (pañcavidyā), there is one called bzo rig pa (the science of craftsmanship). Bzo refers to crafting techniques, and rig pa means clear awareness. Thus, art is a form of heightened wisdom. Among the Buddha’s supreme emanations, reincarnated manifestations, skillful manifestations, and various indeterminate manifestations, sacred images have a function known as “the emanation in form,” serving as vehicles for disseminating wisdom.
For example, we are all familiar with Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, who wields a sword in one hand and holds a sutra in the other. The swinging sword symbolizes cutting through the illusions that do not inherently belong to you but are infinitely magnified by you. What are these illusions? They range from a single fleeting thought to the entire cycle of samsara. In fact, 99% of the troubles in our lives are fabricated by our own minds. Thus, Mañjuśrī’s wisdom sword represents severing ignorance. The book he holds represents embracing your true self. On one hand, it is about letting go of falsehoods, and on the other, it is about embracing your inherently complete and unique nature. When these two are achieved, it is traditionally called the perfection of abandonment and the perfection of realisation. This state of being is known as Mañjuśrī, or “Wonderfully Auspicious.”
These artistic images and works are meant to spread awakening. Through his paintings, Chöying Dorje conveys inner peace, tranquility, serenity, and softness to people. When we gaze upon Chöying Dorje’s paintings and sculptures, there comes a moment when your mind comes to a stop, and we catch a glimpse of an inner sky. In that sky, there is openness; within openness, there is freedom; and within freedom, there is liberation.
Just like our lives, we inevitably experience various emotional troubles—much like the weather that appears in the sky. Sometimes storms rage, filling you with emotions and conflicts. Sometimes the sun shines brightly, and you feel joyful. But whether your life is filled with sunshine or storms, never forget that inner sky. Because when you find inner simplicity, you can dance with the complexities of the outer world with that very simplicity.
And when you look at Chöying Dorje’s paintings and sculptures, you will see your own inner sky, again and again. This reminds me of the meaning of Chöying Dorje’s name: Chöying means “dharmadhatu,” limitless freedom, expansiveness—the place where miracles arise. Dorje means “unchanging” and “true.” Through such art, we are guided to find our own unchanging inner essence and return to that true sky. This is the awakening that Chöying Dorje’s works bring to us.
As I have proposed with Awakening Art:
Awakening, brings the heart back to itself.
Art, makes one become one’s true self.