The Dot and X: “DC Convergence” is a Yoga — “A Union.”
“X” marks the spot. The Dot and X are potent elements. Two diagonal lines converge to define a point, a Dot. Kandinsky said, “Everything starts from the dot.” Does the universe explode from the Dot? from this point of infinitesimal proportions? One could say the Dot is at the central convergence of the X: I have been interested in this Dot and X for many years. In India they call the Dot, the Bindu
In metaphysics, Bindu is considered the point at which creation begins and may become unity. It is also described as “the sacred symbol of the cosmos in its unmanifested state”. Bindu is the point around which the mandala is created, representing the universe.
Bindu is often merged with [seed] (or sperm) and ova. In the Yoga Chudamani Upanishad, Bindu is a duality, with a white Bindu representing shukla (pure) and a red Bindu representing maharaj (mastery). The white Bindu resides in the bindu visarga and is related to Shiva and the Moon, while the red Bindu resides in the muladhara chakra and is related to Shakti and the Sun. In yoga, the union of these two parts results in the ascension of kundalini to the sahasrara. Wikipedia
Holy Grail PURCHASE HERE
The Holy Grail is nothing short of a union.
This canvas is in four pieces which “converge” toward a “point,” a “bindu,” and also explode out of the same. The “Holy Grail” is a symbol of unification between the Spirit of Immortality and the Physical Realms of the Mind/Body. One could also say between the Sperm and the Egg, or between the Divine Father and the Divine Mother. The size of this canvas overall is about 7 feet wide and 5 feet tall. You can observe it for sale here: Holy Grail.
I have an affinity for the Dot and X as pure pictorial elements. Perhaps even an obsession. They are structures of certainty around which all kinds of “uncertainties” can be dissolved. What appears as “chaos” is brought into harmony by the Dot and X. Dramas can go on, but the stillness of this union brings everything back to focus and balance.
DC Convergence #1 PURCHASE HERE
SEX is nothing short of the union of the “Dot” and the “X.”
When the “Dot of un-manifested Love” enters the “X of the Infinite Cosmic Space” — the BIG BANG of orgasmic union takes place and creates a Universe. Why not? What better explanations do we have that are cleared of all the dogmatic guilts and belief systems that condemn man to some kind of eternal purgatory within the confines of a malevolent mythology — in a closed system of life vs. death of space & temporality? It makes sense that from the infinitesimally small a chain reaction of life takes place and expands infinitely outward in all directions — forever.
Sex is nothing short of the union of the Dot and X. And in this union the mystery of LIFE takes place. What more do we need to know? It is cause for Great JOY !! It is Cause for the continuity of our Self into perpetuity. Forever is a long time, in fact, not even subject to time. The joining of the Dot and X is an action of infinite possibilities and scale. It brings us to the appreciation for BEING Who we are as God created us.
DC Convergence #2 PURCHASE HERE
DC Convergence
We moved to Washington DC in March of 2017 for the purpose of balancing the energies here— in whatever ways we can. We “converged in DC” to bring Babaji’s Energy of “Truth, Simplicity, Love and Service” to this area where conflict and divisiveness is the norm of the political scene. Conservatives battle the Liberals; the Republicans are looked down upon by the Democrats; the “good guys” are convinced the “bad guys” are ruining things, and must be whipped in public. More energy is expended in political dogfights than actually getting something useful done to serve the people for whom the government was formed to serve in the first place. All this is at the expense of the people. So, we “converged” on DC with some kind of Spiritual imperative to bring a peace and unity to an otherwise charged-up insanity of division.
We are the Dot in the X of here and now, in DC.
I call these paintings “DC Convergence” and make them of a sexual model: The Dot finds a home at the center of the X of expanded possibilities. They come together in Love. They come together in Peace. They come together in Joy. And they are productive. This is the thing about painting: it is one of the most concrete, productive actions a body can take. Very direct actions produce something very touchable and real. It is not theoretical. It is ACTUAL.
DC Convergence#3 PURCHASE HERE
Ornithology is to the birds—rather useless.
In my last post on Mark Rothko I quoted him saying the act of painting was a religious experience for him, and that when people stood before his canvases and wept, he knew he was successful in transmitting that religious experience to his viewers. Rothko was also a friend of the painter Barnett Newman, a fellow pioneer in the color field painting often dubbed “abstract expressionism.” Barnett Newman also was an astute thinker and writer on Art, as was Rothko. He expressed what to me is one of the most profound statements about artists that have ever been spoken:
“Aesthetics is to artists as ornithology is to the birds.” —Barnett Newman—
“Art Look” —an art lover’s companion— is not about aesthetics: “the branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste.” All of this is formulated after the fact. “Aesthetics” is NOT the religious experience of which Rothko speaks. FLYING is the religious experience. The birds know this. They do not need a “theory about it” to FLY. They just FLY. Making paintings is what artists do. They do not need an aesthetic justification to plot out their actions beforehand. In fact, if you ask an artist, “how did you do that,” most likely he/she would say “I don’t need to know the how. I just need to be inspired by the why and keep going.”
The Why is always the ecstatic joy of the religious experience of the act of painting itself, which gives a tremendous sense of satisfaction, purpose and meaning to Life. Why do anything without this sense of purpose and Joy? The purpose is Joy—or the overcoming of sorrow. That is Why a painter paints. This cannot be taught in a university aesthetics class. It is in the artist, a priori—pre-existing by his or her very nature. When the “Dot” meets the “X” there is Pure Joy.
Joining together is the only real Yoga.
When a body joins with another body in sexual union you have coitus; when an individual soul joins with the Will of the Universal Intelligence you have enlightenment—samadhi. Yoga is a kind of spiritual coitus with all other physical, mental and emotional levels. You may be able to put your foot behind your ear and stand on your head, which some “yogis” can do, but that may not give you the ultimate joining. You may be able to put a penis in a vagina but that does not mean you have risen to the heights of Divine Love making. That is a level beyond the body, even beyond the words that might describe that state of being.
DC Convergence #4 PURCHASE HERE
Sondra sometimes gets a little modest when I use sexual themes in my painting. You might even ask why does someone who paints the Spiritual Masters also paint themes of a sexual nature? I do not see the two as mutually exclusive. We have to remove the profane from the sexual themes and see their sacredness; just as we have to solidify our spiritual themes and ground them in the religious experience of the here and now, with actual physical stuff.
The Dot and X are accomplishing that, by joining together in the only real Yoga. What is almost a micron larger than Zero, nothing—meets with the all expansiveness of infinite things in all directions, everything. This is the real union that will produce Heaven on Earth. And it is nothing short of that which every artist I know is striving in his painting to accomplish, and every couple engaged in a holy relationship is deeply connecting and intending to do.
THANK YOU for reading, as ever,
PS. You can still buy neat stuff here on “Art Look.”
Sales keep the whole thing going, and YOU end up with neat stuff.
Maybe you would like to have a “Dot and X.”
