At the 2014 Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, a woman from England, Harpal Datt of Glow at Work, a business psychology consultancy specializing in unleashing talent and potential, came up to me and said, “Your friend says you’re a Buddhist hipster. What does that mean?”
To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure either. But we sat down and had a talk to explore the underlying question, which is this: Is it possible to marry the spiritual and the material?
Thank you Harpal for such a lovely conversation!
Austin, those were some nice words you said. What I feel regarding the spiritual and material is that they are already inseparable and interdependent. The focus of my work and practice is on the nature of materials and on meaning, but to me, all things are always telling stories of their origins. So, it is the root of any thing that can lead us to the spiritual, transcendent, sublime or poetic. How do we create meaning, or touch the spiritual? I believe it is through stories. In the end, isn’t everything a story?
As you well know samsara is nirvana. The material only becomes a problem when is becomes materialism and with that act of identification we separate ourselves from the Source. But you already know this. 🙂
Austin this is your best video that you have posted. This is the first time that I got to know “your” story and allowed me to feel more connected to you . I now have a understanding of who you are and why you do what you do.
Keep going
As I get older I notice that when people are being more vulnerable by expressing who they are, they become more confident , attractive , and centered with themselves and life in general.
Thank You for posting and sharing the video.
Dennis
Hi Austin
This is a great video. When I do to the studio and paint and let creativity take over I am on a spiritual journey of bringing heaven and earth together. The more I let my fears, preconceived ideas go the better the flow. We are creators made in the image of the Creator so when I create a painting I’m so close to that original image. My spiritual life is part if who I am and deeply connected with everything I do,