Integrating Dharma and the Arts

The first thing to think about is one’s attitude. The purpose of making the painting or of creating any work of art should only be to benefit others. One should do the artwork to pacify all one’s wrong concepts and disturbing emotional thoughts. While creating, one should keep a motivation of purifying negative karma and actualizing the good heart, loving kindness, bodhicitta, and, in fact, the whole path to enlightenment. By transforming one’s attitude into Dharma, one integrates one’s art with Dharma.

The second thing is the art itself. One should make objects that have a spiritual meaning. One can represent bodhisattvas’ life stories or the Buddha’s life story, showing how they practiced patience and perseverance for the happiness of other sentient beings. One could paint the life stories of great holy beings and present the ways they sacrificed their lives for other sentient beings by practicing renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness. One could show how they were always aware of karma. One could use art to show how happiness results from good actions and suffering from negative actions. In this way, making such paintings, for example, which carry a beneficial meaning, is the integration of art with Dharma.

To put this integration into practice, at the beginning of every day, one should pray like this: Due to all my past and future merits, may anyone who sees, touches, or remembers this painting (or other object) never be born in the lower realms. May all disturbing spirit harms and obscurations be purified. May they achieve enlightenment as soon as possible by actualizing the whole path and may they have joy and happiness in their hearts.

Since everything has to do with the power of the mind—enlightenment, hell, liberation, samsara, everything—if one generates the strong thought of benefiting others, as the mind becomes stronger, this thought will cause it to happen.

My very dear one,
How are you? I was very happy to meet you and also to help you in your work. I didn’t have enough time to correct the prayer for your song, but I have asked someone to do it for me. I have many ideas for different prayers that explain how to deal with people’s various problems and difficulties. These will then make your songs have the greatest effect on and benefit for sentient beings, to help them solve their problems, emotional and psychological, and ultimately bring them to enlightenment, because what you are singing is Dharma, the teachings of Buddha, the unmistaken path to enlightenment. Because the subject is Dharma, all the people who come to your concerts or hear your music are liberated from samsaric suffering and your music brings them to enlightenment.

When you sing it would be very good if you can pray beforehand like this:

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and by all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, just by seeing me, touching me, remembering me, hearing my voice, dreaming of me, harming me, helping me, through whatever connection people make with me, even if somebody makes fun of me—may it become the cause for them never to be reborn in suffering realms (hell, hungry ghost, or animal realms); may they immediately be liberated from all sickness, spirit harm, negative karma, and defilements; and may they immediately find the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, as well as faith in refuge, karma, and the Buddha’s teachings. May they achieve bodhicitta in their hearts instantly, may all their wishes be fulfilled, may they achieve all happiness, and may they achieve enlightenment quickly by completing the whole path.

If you make this prayer every day, it becomes a very powerful way to affect other sentient beings and your whole life becomes very beneficial.

With much love and prayers...