Ask A Buddhist: Buddhism and Art

By Venerable Sangye Khadro | FāVS News Columnist

I enjoy making art — drawings, small sculptures, embroidery — and I would like to continue those practices, but I am worried that I am clinging to it as a way to resist emptiness. How do I balance my Buddhist practice with my artistic one — or can I?

Thank you for this interesting question. You would probably get different responses from different Buddhist teachers, but according to my understanding, there is nothing wrong — or un-Buddhist — about artistic creativity. 

One of my teachers, the late Lama Zopa Rinpoche, loved to draw and paint. He would also decorate stuffed animals with messages to inspire positive qualities such as kindness, compassion and wisdom and give them to students and friends. 

Buddhist temples and monasteries around the world are filled with beautiful images of buddhas, bodhisattvas, great masters of the past and other divine figures. The altars and walls are richly decorated with colorful brocades and intricate carvings. These objects, made by skilled crafts-people, help devotees feel inspired to learn and practice the Buddha’s teachings and to develop their natural goodness and Buddha nature. 

So it’s fine for Buddhists to use their creative skills, but keep in mind that images of the Buddha should ideally be made according to specific proportions, rather than in an abstract or impressionistic style.

Motivation is a key factor. What is your aim when creating a work of art or embroidery? To impress others, win praise or make money? Grasping at such things with self-centered attachment goes against Buddhist values and aims. But thinking of others and wishing to bring them joy and peace, and maybe even help them make a connection with the Buddha and his teachings, is fully in line with Buddhist ideals. 

So when creating a drawing or sculpture, you could think of giving it to someone, or simply aspire that it will cause benefit and joy to anyone who sees it. You could also practice mindfulness and try to notice any unwholesome mental states that arise like self-centeredness, attachment or arrogance, and let go of these or apply antidotes. 

One very helpful antidote to just about any mental affliction is to remember impermanence — how all things, including your artwork, are changing all the time and won’t last forever.

You mentioned being concerned that creating works of art might be “resisting emptiness.”  I don’t know what your understanding of emptiness is, but it’s good to be aware that it doesn’t always have the same meaning. That term is explained differently in the various Buddhist traditions. 

In our tradition (Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism), emptiness usually refers to the absence of inherent, independent existence. It’s a quality of all phenomena, animate and inanimate. It simply means that nothing is independent, able to stand on its own, because everything depends on other things in order to come into being and exist.  

For example, a drawing depends on numerous causes and conditions: the person making it, the surface on which it is drawn, implements like pencils and so on. When all these causes and conditions are there, a drawing comes into existence; without them, the drawing would not exist. 

In that way the drawing is empty of existing inherently, independently, from its own side. 

The same line of thought can be applied to anything else — yourself, the materials and implements you use, the movements your body makes while drawing, the thoughts and feelings in your mind and so on. 

If you have some understanding of this, you could reflect on it before, during or after creating a work of art, and in that way your work would help you have a better understanding of emptiness. 

But emptiness is a difficult topic; you might find impermanence easier — it’s also very practical and helpful! And try to have an altruistic motivation, being more concerned with others than yourself.  

These are just some suggestions on how to bring Buddhist ideas and practices into your creative endeavors. I hope this is helpful!  

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.

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