Many years ago I copied Thuksey Rinpoche’s words of wisdom from Andrew Harvey’s book,  A Journey in Ladakh. I mounted them on card, and wherever I have set up a home and studio, they have been pinned up. I never tire of them, and it’s easy to see what an influence they have had on both my work and this website. Gratitude for this  profound teaching.

The most beautiful paintings and sculptures, the greatest poetry, have not always been born from torment or bitterness.

Often they have sprung from contemplation, from joy, from an instinct or wonder toward all things.

To create from joy, to create from wonder, demands a continual discipline, a great compassion. . . .

With time and sincerity, you will discover a way to work and write that does not harm you spiritually, that does not tempt you to vanity, that is the deepest expression of your spirituality.

You will find a voice that is not your voice only, but the voice of Reality itself. . . .

If you can be empty enough, that voice can speak through you.

If you can be humble enough, that voice can inhabit you and use you.

– Thuksey Rinpoche

From A Journey in Ladakh by Andrew Harvey

Photo credit: Prayer flags on the Digar La, Ladakh, Rudolph Abraham