- Art's Subjective Nature: Art is subjective and largely depends on various factors such as physiology, psychology, environment, culture, education level and species. What one perceives as art or beautiful is often a projection of personal beliefs, experiences and culture. u
- Art as a Human Experience: Art primarily exists for humans as other species might have a different perception of beauty. Humans project meaning or significance onto reality which results in art. What one person sees as beautiful or holds as art, another might not.
- Relativity in Art: Art is entirely relative and changeable, dependent on the era, culture, and species. For example, what might be seen as beautiful art today, can change in the future due to technological and cultural advancements.
- Art Beyond Human Constructs: A more profound way of looking at art is beyond the human constructs. It can be seen as a consciousness of the innate creativity and beauty of reality. The meaning attached to an object or situation is what may make it art.
- Raising Consciousness through Art: As an individuals consciousness elevates, they begin to appreciate the beauty in everything around them, not just traditional forms of art. This allows for expansion in what can be considered art.
- Art as a Reflection of Life: It's possible to find art in everyday experiences or commonplace objects, such as a dead bird, that might trigger emotions and memories. This understanding deepens the significance of the art and brings an emotional connection with different facets of life.
- Artistic Perceptions Change: Artistic perceptions differ greatly among individuals due to differences in personal experiences, level of consciousness, and subject knowledge. Therefore, art can be seen as a highly individualistic expression of life and experiences.
- Scope of Beauty in Art: Only a minuscule part of all reality is considered beautiful to most people, which they can perceive as art. However, the higher one's consciousness, the more they can appreciate the beauty of everything around them. Art, in this context, transcends traditional perceptions, becoming a reflection of reality in its entirety.
- The purpose of art: The main aim of art is to find pleasure in infinite creation. The world as we know it is a product of ceaseless creation, which is infinitely beautiful. Such beauty is so immense and powerful that if a person were to realize it all at once, it would be overpowering and potentially render normal life activities impossible. Hence, our consciousness has evolved to narrow our focus on practical and survival-oriented aspects of life, inadvertently limiting our appreciation of the surrounding beauty.
- Art as a spiritual journey: Art can allow us to surpass these limitations and indulge in the beauty of infinite creation, offering delight and expanding our perceptual breadth. Art functions by highlighting specific aspects of reality that we find beautiful and emotionally moving. Different people could resonate with different art forms due to their individual preferences. Ultimately, creating art is akin to playing God, partaking in the infinite creative process that constitutes our reality.
- Art as an Evolutionary Process: Realitys ongoing creative process, better known as evolution, is happening continually and is not confined to the realms of genetic evolution. This universal evolution applies to everything around us planets, societies, art forms, culture, belief systems, economies, technologies, and Personal growth. At the heart of evolution is a subtle yet powerful creative force, not random or blind, that keeps generating new forms through constant spontaneous insights.
- Art and Universal Intelligence: People who practice art may awaken to their inherent creative impulses that participate in Maya, the infinite creative illusion of reality, according to Hindu philosophy. Artists thus become a part of the universal evolutionary process, and in turn, they may feel akin to the role of God. This realisation cultivates a spiritual connection even though many artists may not be consciously aware of this.
- Art as a Process of Ensuring Greater Consciousness: Leo Gura emphasizes the idea that art seeks to awaken individuals to the beauty in everything around them. This includes the way people observe, interpret, and connect various elements of reality. By placing ordinary objects and experiences on a pedestal, art enhances our consciousness and allows us to appreciate the beauty in life more readily.
- Art as a Creative Intuition, Not Logic: Gura also presents the idea that the process of creating art relies on intuitive insights and the combination of emotional elements. This perspective deviates from a logical or rational approach and instead equates the creative impulse to natural forces such as gravity, which can produce intricate and beautiful cosmic structures despite their simple nature.
- Art's Role in Consciousness Awakening: The main aim of art, according to Gura, is to raise consciousness and enhance appreciation of the world. He notes that most people live their lives in a pragmatic daze, consumed by concerns of self-survival. This often makes them oblivious to the beauty that surrounds them. Art, in this instance, works to evoke emotions that can stir people out of this dazed state and move them to higher levels of consciousness.
- Art and Enjoyment of Creation: The primary role of art is to express and experience delight in infinite beauty, a concept that may seem futile to those stuck in the survival mode. Gura notes the role of artists as agents who elevate people's consciousness by presenting the beauty in creation, invoking feelings of beauty in ordinary objects and experiences.
- Art as a Skill to Share Profound Experiences: As artists become more observant and emotionally moved by the world around them, they can connect different facets of reality to create original works. This process, similar to gaining enlightenment insights, requires study and emotional engagement. The ultimate goal for artists is to share their awe and wonder with audiences, creating a spiritual connection akin to a religious experience.
- Art, when Created or Viewed, Serves as Consciousness Wake-up Call: Art serves the dual purpose of awakening consciousness in both the creator and the viewer. For the creator, the challenge lies in having to observe, be inspired by, and make connections between various elements of their environment. The viewer, on the other hand, is awakened by the chosen subjects elevated by the artist, thereby broadening their perspective of beauty.
- Challenges of Being an Artist: Creating art involves fluctuating periods of high inspiration and creative blocks - a testament to the unpredictable nature of creativity. Despite these challenges, Gura underscores the importance of enjoyment, suggesting that the process of creating art could become a spiritual exercise akin to going to church for artists.
- Promoting Consciousness Enhancement: Gura proposes that the ultimate goal of art and artists should be to inspire audiences to look beyond the mundane, detach from pragmatic survival-minded existences, and immerse themselves in the infinite beauty of all aspects of reality. This, in turn, facilitates the process of self-realization and elevates the overall appreciation of life.
- Art as a Rational vs. Holistic Process: Art is characterized as a holistic process coming from the right hemisphere of the brain, while rational thinking is from the left. This contrast means rational individuals may lack artistic perception and spiritual touch.
- Sharing of Art and Experiences: Humans, being social creatures, have a desire to share experiences, insights, and creations, contributing to culture and personal significance. This sharing is especially intense when it comes to meaningful and beautiful moments or objects, and this extends to artists.
- Viewing Art as a Spiritual Connection: Viewing art can provide an accessible and cheap spiritual connection for people often burdened with pragmatic concerns and distracted from beauty. This viewing could also inspire them to become artists themselves, defining their own interpretation of beauty.
- Influence of Art on Consciousness and Society: By arranging beauty in a distinct and captivating way, artists can influence viewers' consciousness, encouraging them to become more humane, compassionate, and understanding. This could eventually elevate society, making art vital for the smoother operation of humanity.
- Artists and Result-attachment: Artists often start their journey with a spiritual connection and an intent to share their insights freely. Over time, many may become preoccupied with seeking approval, losing sight of their initial spirit and leading to various anxieties and depression.
- Art Medium Limitation by Culture and Market: While art can be any medium, in practice, it's often limited by the culture and marketplace. For artists, success means convincing a large number of people that their work is beautiful, which could be challenging. Successful artists shape culture while resisting being shaped by it.
- The Role of Culture: Mainstream culture, which tends to have a low consciousness quality, can be an obstacle for artists who often try to rise above it and elevate it. Artists should be careful not to be overly formed by mainstream culture or society's low consciousness, else they risk losing their uniqueness and creativity.
- Struggles of Cutting-Edge Artists: Radical, revolutionary artists often face criticism, rejection, and sometimes violent reaction from a threatened mainstream society. Thousands of unrecognized genius-level artists exist worldwide, who are either overlooked or unappreciated due to societal resistance to higher consciousness and open-mindedness.
- Aligning Art with Cultural and Economic Conditions: The success of an artist's work in the marketplace depends on how well it aligns with prevailing economic and cultural norms. Artists continuously grapple with the challenge of staying true to their creative vision while also ensuring their art is marketable and can financially support them.
- Pitfalls of Success: Reaching a high level of success can be a double-edged sword for artists. While it brings recognition and financial reward, it also can lead artists to chase more success at the expense of their spiritual connection, which contributes to their fulfillment in life. Success can also potentially seduce artists to make their art more mainstream, often sacrificing the originality and spirit of their work.
- Deepening Spiritual Connection and Evolving Art: To continuously evolve their art, artists should deepen their spiritual connection, allowing them to perceive and integrate more beauty in their surroundings and within themselves. This also requires ongoing work in mastering technical skills and personal development.
- Importance of Personal Development and Reduced Ego in Art: There is an inverse relationship between ego and art, meaning as ego decreases, the quality of art generally increases. To achieve high-quality art, artists need to reduce their ego and make a serious commitment to their personal development, consciousness work, and study of business, marketing, and mass psychology.
- Creativity and Enjoyment of the Process: Artists can supercharge their art, achieve genius-level results and optimize their enjoyment in the creative process by overcoming obstacles such as neurosis, fears, anxieties, depression, negative thinking, and attachment to the outcomes of their work.
- Art as Therapy and Overcoming Burnout: Many artists use art as a form of therapy or self-medication, but this can often lead to dependency on their work for a sense of purpose, resulting in potential burnout or health problems. By committing to non-artistic practices such as personal development and consciousness work, artists can rejuvenate their creative processes, leading to scalable, prolific, and more fulfilling art productions.
- Imagining and Working Towards an Effortless and Joyful Creative Process: A vision for artists to live consciously free, effortlessly enjoying their work, constantly finding new connections and sharing beauty with the world can be achieved through persistent dedication, visualization, and consciousness work. This goal, while seeming ambitious, should be seen as a practical aspiration every artist could work towards.
- Benefits of Consciousness Work in Art: The processes of enhancing one's art, making art production fulfilling, and developing an appreciation for the beauty in life, can be simultaneously achieved through consciousness work and dedication, benefitting not just the artist but anyone pursuing personal development and self-actualization.