In this age, which the Hindus call the Kali Yuga (Dark Age), creativity has become the candle that enlightens the dark. Creativity is dangerous in that it taps into the unconditioned mind. It is in this sense, that the heroine of this article, Meryl Ann Butler, is a mover of humanity.

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(Article changed on April 14, 2013 at 02:14)

"More than Creator and Creation

Mother is pure Creativity

beyond any notion of duality

Universe and Father God

are thrilling glances from Her seductive eyes

Eternally pregnant with Ecstasy

She gives birth to Manifest Being

From Her womb of primordial Awareness,

nursing him tenderly at Her breast,

She consumes Her child.

The world dissolves instantly

upon the touch of Her lips

attaining the realization of

Her brilliant and translucent void."

--Ramakrishna (paraphrased by Lex Hixon 1996)

Creative thought often comes without words. It presents itself as a yearning desire that for some doesn't let up. It continues until the message that is inward is communicated in some form, be it in writing, drawing, dancing, making music, or playing in the sand.

According to Meryl Ann Butler, an Opednews.com Managing Editor, artist, and labyrinth builder, art is medicine that cures the Soul. The beauty inherent in art brings inspiration, connection, and fulfillment to our lives. Tapping into our creativity renews the spirit, be it a natural scene or a piece of artwork. Furthermore she states that the journey of doing artwork is as important as a finished piece. It leads us homeward to where our creative self merges with the Creative Self.

Meryl Ann also states that art helps to heal the viewer. To that I would add that art can take one more deeply into the realms of reality. For example, many times I've heard people say they have read a novel, or looked at an image, and after several months an "ah-ha" moment occurs. This "ah-ha" ultimately leads to an insight or another work. In the looking-glass of art, we meet the unmanifest potential within ourselves and are inspired to bring it forth to share with and inspire others. Within each work of art is the seed of another awaiting insemination by the art lover. And so the dance of yin and yang is perpetuated. The DNA of your artwork is passed on to mine. Creation begets creation in a never ending spiral of Life. Thus art is an interaction (an intercourse) between an artist and the appreciator of art. Art is both subjective and relational.

An example from my personal experience involves The Wizard of Oz. This story took me more deeply into the essence of reality. Interestingly, some of my intuitions about the wizard, representing the loud-mouthed self aggrandizement of our corporate culture, were substantiated by an article that appeared in a 1980's article in the magazine "Quest." The author of that article and I concur that Dorothy must melt the fear of death (and life), symbolized by the Wicked Witch of the West, before Toto, (her instinctive self) can reveal the Wizard as nothing more than a balloon of hot air. Yet, the Wizard of Oz is interpreted in multiple ways by various readers.

Some say it's just a nice child's adventure story. Others say its about the author's ties to communism. Still others feel it is a reaction to the power of the big Banksters (i.e., "follow the yellow brick road" into their pockets). And, still others believe the story is a theosophical quest for enlightenment. I use it for the latter, but respect the other interpretations. Each viewer of a work of art reveals a new facet of meaning within that art. 

Art brings forth more from the inner world of the person viewing as much as it reflects the artist's Soul. Thus diversity enlightens Unity and creates community. Art makes each of us, artist and viewer alike, more transparent. Rather than hiding behind linear logic, which is a surface level of intelligence, art takes us all deeper into the Psyche, where our true health and power reside.

Meryl Ann also feels that art overcomes the discord of polarization. Like the photos of Earth from space, it reveals the unity of the north and south poles as one exquisitely beautiful globe. Time is enfolded in eternity and space in infinity. Where we once thought there was black and white, an entire spectrum of color reveals Heaven on Earth. That which was deemed bad is seen to be something that is of benefit. Our "illnesses" highlight what we must transform in order to return to our native health. Our enemies and even our sins become our teachers.

In this reality, there is no dualism, a philosophy that so much saturates the thought of our dominant culture. Dualism in essence sets up strict dichotomies of good and bad, male and female, or this and that. Non - duality instead states that reality is whole, which is more than being in unity, but a state in which all parts interact together in making a universe, as evident in this basic term, uni-verse. We live in a world that is at once united and versatile.

Meryl Ann feels art reconnects us to the creative Self. She affirms us as spiritual beings having a physical experience. A fascinating image that Meryl Ann has created is called Vortices of Light: Spirit Descending into Matter.

This relates to the thesis presented by physicist David Bohm who states we are grounded in a state called the Unmanifest Implicate Order. This Unmanifest is described as an infinite Ocean of Energy saturating all things. The Unmanifest then gives birth to the Manifest Explicit Order which, in turn, dies to fertilize ever-new, ever-eternal manifestations. There is finally no distinction between sacrifice and resurrection. Together they create the flow of life which is crystallized (Christrealized) in our creative arts.

Genesis, in this case, is not occurring in times past. It is here and now. Indeed, as many mystics will tell you, reaching the Unmanifest is doable once one gets "out of one's head" (i.e., beyond rational thought) and experiences the rapture of pure Consciousness. This is the time for change. This is why Meryl Ann's work is so imperative. She joins with many others who are working towards an evolution of consciousness. Her talents and insight cry forth the future for humankind and this planet.

Meryl Ann Ann thus feels that creativity is a moving towards something. The goal may not always be clear to the ego consciousness. Yet, it is there. It unfolds naturally as long as one can move the conditioned ego out of the way. Because Meryl Ann is an adept intuitive, her art takes one into a deeper layer of Being. She is one who can speak Wisdom without thundering dogma from atop a pulpit. Rather than spouting dogma, she midwifes the potential latent within a person. Thus her work is seminal to the future evolution of individuals and, ultimately, humanity.

Meryl Ann creates personal mandalas for people, relying on her intuitive insights into their true souls. Her mandalas are drawn using colored pencils. The mandalas draws forth from the recipients who dwell with them ever deeper insights and intuitions. This work was influenced by Judith Cornell, author of Mandala: Drawing Light from Within.  ("And the beat goes on.")

In her teaching, Meryl Ann finds that some people draw mandalas and may have put in a symbol that they didn't recognize at the time of their drawing. But, then, when the person returns to the image after several years, it appears. In many ways, this process is like the old saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." Well, it appears the teacher was always there, just not visible to the surface level ego!

Images resonate more deeply in the Soul than words. Indeed, as an undergraduate, I helped a professor in the design and implementation of an experiment on memory consolidation, which was ultimately published in the scientific journal Nature. The study found simply that lists of words were remembered better when paired with images bearing a deep affective component. Thus, Meryl Ann Ann's important work reinforces Meister Eckhart's line: " Does the Soul wish to know the essence of a man, a woman, or a tree? She creates an image.  " To that I would add the image to be known should arouse the Soul's passion.

A picture is worth thousands of words...and even brings the words to life. (My wife, Merry, adds, " And a life is worth a thousand pictures. ") Without the right side of the brain, we are dead. Perhaps this was what the Native American tribe called the Kogis were tapping into when they saw the invading Spaniards and proclaimed them as being dead. Perhaps we are most dead when we are filled with rational logic and ideals that create a mindset of self-appointed righteousness?

Whether Meryl Ann read Bohm, Pribram or the mystics doesn't matter. She knew intuitively what was going on. Furthermore, the messages she knows in her heart are timeless and available to all of us. This relates to the ancient dictum that the teacher appears when the student is ready. The teacher has been there, the student is now paying attention. This operates both internally and externally.

Meryl Ann's work is dangerous, in my opinion. I say this because the right brain is more dangerous for it takes people out of their comfort zone while also riling up the status quo. Her work takes one past conditioning and into the unconditioned. Thus, all of what we are taught in grade school and through the media falls away when we tap into this arena of consciousness. It is our conditioned mind that we need to let die while allowing the unconditioned and creative to unfold. This is the arena of our intelligence that is able to move past the status quo. Thus it is often suppressed.

Meryl Ann recommends repetitive acts to help us become more connected to the right brain. Thus she is involved in helping people develop mandalas, walking labyrinths, meditation, and moving the body. Her focus is on listening, not works.

She is also well aware of the effects of Vibrations/Sound and its effect on the psyche as well as structure of matter. Thus it makes you wonder about the effects of commercial television, the roar of items such as washing machines, and other means of generating vibrations have on the Psyche. How much of our human sickness is related to what we are ingesting at a vibration level.

Could this be used by the corporate powers to keep us enslaved in consumerism, media addictions and the political divisiveness that keeps people enthralled in a divide and conquer ethos manufactured by the "powers that be?"

For Meryl Ann, human driven global warming is like a little wobble that Earth in Her Divine Essence will be able to cycle through. Perhaps Meryl Ann is also intuiting what I feel, that the universe is alive and that our seeing it as dead is more a function of our own minds. Yet, death brings forth resurrection. If you don't believe this, pay attention to the  progression of the seasons. Fall and winter makes way to spring and summer.

Death is a living process.

To begin our resurrections into more evolved beings, we don't need to fix others. We don't even need to "fix" ourselves. We just need to sink so deeply into our true selves that we cross the threshold into the One True Self. We need to determine what fills us with joy and manifest that joy in every moment.

 To do so, according to Meryl Ann, we need to discover what intrinsically causes us to celebrate life.

What else is there to worship in a living universe than Life Herself?

References

Envision This! Interview with Meryl Ann is at: click here

Meryl Ann's artwork can be seen in the gallery on her blog at http://www.MerylAnn.com, where she has offered gifts to listeners of this interview in her "Free Downloads" tab, for a limited time. Her works can also be seen on her website, http://merylannbutler.com , aswell as in collections around the world.

Meryl Ann's author page on Opednews is http://www.opednews.com/MerylAnnButler

Hixon, Lex, Great Swan: Meetings With Ramakrishna, Larson Publications, Burdett, New York, 1996

The theosophical interpretation of the Wizard of Oz is at

click here

Authors Bio:
Burl Hall is a retired counselor who is living in a Senior Citizen Housing apartment. Burl has one book to his credit, titled "Sophia's Web: A Passionate Call to Heal our Wounded Nature." For more information, search the book on Amazon.

Burl's philosophy entails the idea that "everything effects and causes everything thing else." His spirituality of Sophia i.e., Wisdom is universal as well as within each of us. He also sees the idea of Chaos as not being "all over the place" but as infinite relationships.

The question I present in my articles speak not so much towards the politicians, but how WE the people can empower ourselves within a planet that is healthy, wealthy and wise.