Seat of the Soul
Original
Acrylic and Oil on hand stretch canvas
26 inches
This painting came about as one of my meditation vision experiences. I get visions sometimes while I meditate, and some of them are so captivating, that I am inspired to paint them. The title of this painting is 'Seat of the Soul'. I never knew what that was and still don't understand fully what this is, but I will tell you how the titled came about and what this painting means: As I am fairly new in my practice of meditation, I had been leaving my sketch book beside me, for any reason that I might find to write about each experience. I began this session as usual, in the sitting position with hands extended to the sky. As I focused on my breath, I began to again get distracted by my thoughts, which is usually the case in meditation. It took me a while it seemed, but I began to somehow fly away from these distracting thoughts and a beautiful light began to emerge, which I was naturally drifting towards. In this immense light, I began to see a dark figure that was sitting in the same position as I with a crown or some type of head dress upon the head. I couldn't tell if it was male or female. It seemed to be sitting upon all my thoughts in the center of this light. The thoughts looked like ropes or tubes, carrying different ideas, like the normal chatter of the brain; what's for dinner tonight, what responsibilities I have to do, etc. It felt like I was separate from these thoughts for once as I witnessed this very peaceful being sitting upon where all thoughts begin or cease. I tried to get as close as I could to try to distinguish the face of this being and it spoke to me: It said, "You have to be more pure". I stayed in this space with this being, until my thoughts seemed to be pulling me away. It was like my time was up or something. As I began to drift backwards and away from the being it spoke again, like to say 'oh one more thing'. It just said, "Pineal Gland". I was confused, as I never heard that word before and didn't know what it meant and it repeated again, "Pineal Gland". My thoughts, then seemed to gain control, and took me out of this space and back to where I could hear things around me again and then I opened my eyes. I felt like I had just traveled somewhere, like you feel when you have a really deep dream. I immediately picked up my sketchbook and wrote down what I saw and the words, 'pineal gland'. I looked at the clock, and although it had felt like only minutes I was in this, it had been exactly 1 hour to the exact minute. I put the sketch book away and carried on with my daily activities. It wasn't until several days later that I remembered about this experience while browsing for a documentary to watch. I decided to look up on YouTube, 'Pineal Gland' and was shocked and amazed to what I found. It is believed the pineal gland to be the "principal seat of the soul" and is where the third eye, or all seeing eye is located. This send chills through me. When I try to explain to people how I get my painting ideas, they arrive somewhere like a movie screen located at the front of my forehead. I believe this to be the third eye. I still do not understand fully why I had this experience, but I don't have to. I decided to paint exactly what I saw and experienced in my mind's eye. I decided to title the painting, 'Seat of the Soul'. I am continuing my practice of meditation to say the least! I have also just discovered a book with the same title, written by Gary Zukav. I believe I am embarking on a new adventure, not only with my art but for my entire being.
