manifesting?

1. Introduction

Like many others, Buddhism helped me gain insights on my emotional and inner life. At the same time, I don’t consider myself a Buddhist as I am not committed to its rituals. Still, Buddhist teachings have meant a lot to me. Therefore, in this thesis I want to keep on exploring its knowledge in the same manner as I did before, by listening. I don’t want to classify Buddhism nor incorporate it, I only aim to listen to what its teachings have to say. In order to understand my own position in relation to Buddhism, I think it’ll be appropriate to start with the relation between the tradition and my own western culture. I was born and still live in Amsterdam. In my surroundings I tend to notice references to Buddhism almost every day. The misunderstanding — through commercialisation and trivialisation — that often occurs seemed like a fitting starting point. I aim to research what were significant sources of influence in the origination of this misunderstanding, on a conceptual and visual level. As an art academy student, I obviously don’t have the academic background from which I can offer a detailed timeline of the complex history between Buddhism and the west. I — of course — can’t cover every aspect of the story. Therefore, all I’m trying to do is grasp a connection between the references to Buddhism that I tend to notice and its origins in western culture, in order to understand the things I come across.

As a graphic designer, I think it’s interesting how perceptions originate and what role representation fulfils, in the process of creating a frame of reference. Since I can’t look into someone’s interiority, perceptions always imply that I can never exactly define it. Still, I think most would agree that there is something as a collective perception in the west, something that is defined by culture and based on representation. This is based on a shared way of thinking present in my environment. In Buen Vivir: Relationality and the Task of Listening (2012), Rolando Vázquez refers to this collective way of western thinking as modernity. Although, many individuals in the west don’t think and act in line with this framework, I do believe that the worldview which modernity entails is somewhat dominant in my culture.

The term modernity entails a claim of being the only worldview with access to universal “truth”. Since the enlightenment, this idea has been deeply ingrained in the west, and is employed to maintain its position of power in the world. Through scientific notions, modernity seeks to validate this universality, as science is believed to determine what is “objectively true”.¹ Together with representation as seen in the media and design, science is used as a method to create meaning and ideas. It can create the impression in one’s mind, that it is per definition “right”. It creates perception. Since modernity pretends as if it is the only valid way of gaining knowledge, other worldviews are being excluded and denied, a process that Vázquez refers to as coloniality.² These principles are crucial in this thesis, because it researches just that: worldviews different from the dominant one of modernity and how these can be appropriated. By opening spaces for other perspectives stemming from ‘outside of modernity’ — In the case of buen vivir, an indigenous notion present in the political discourse of Bolivia and Ecuador — Vázquez criticises the western pretension of owning universal “truth” by listening to ideas from a different background than modernity.³ In the same vein I aim to research and question western assumptions and perceptions on Buddhism. Considering my non-academic background, I don’t seek to find any absolute answers. All I have is a train of thought that I want to follow. This research does not aim to conclude anything.

2. Foundation of the Tradition

Buddhist tradition revolves around an in-depth research on the ‘self’, through a way of thinking and living one needs to commit to. Opinions might differ on how to categorise Buddhism. Generally speaking, I think a religion based on a philosophy can serve as an explanation that comes close to its entirety. When Siddhartha Gautama (est. 566 BCE–486 BCE) got enlightened and became the Buddha, he shaped a solution for Dukkha, or suffering.⁴ Suffering is often defined as mental and emotional pain or dissatisfaction. Gautama reached Nirvana — a state free of all suffering and full of satisfaction and insight — through several fundamental insights, which form the core of Buddhist teachings. These insights are called the ‘Four Noble Truths’.⁵ ‘The truth of suffering’: Suffering is an unavoidable part of life. When reaching Nirvana, you escape from life and so from suffering. Stemming from the idea that life is cyclical, accepting life as it is, is essential in breaking from the cycle of life and death. ‘The truth of the origin of suffering’: Suffering originates from desire — wanting or wishing for something to happen or not to happen — a craving that originates within. ’The truth of cessation of suffering’: Ignorance about the nature of the self. This ignorance is a misconception in which people tend to assume they’re something absolute and independent. According to Buddhist beliefs the ‘self’ is a mental construct. Therefore, the Buddha speaks about a non-self: Anatta. To clarify on this term, I understand the ‘non-self’ to be that voice that speaks in the ‘me-form’. I experience, I think, I am. Conscious of itself as if separated from its surroundings. According to the Buddha, the physical and mental self is something continuously changing and consists of endless processes. Something that is connected to the rest of the world, part of a whole rather than a fixed entity. When one desires, one believes in fulfilling something that can never be absolute. Therefore, one is trying to feed something that doesn’t really exist. When gaining this insight and ignorance is removed, one will be able to detach oneself from desire.⁶ The fourth truth is ’The truth of the Path’: the Noble Eightfold path, a guide that turns the past three insights to action.⁷

In Buddhist tradition, the notion of an interconnected self is a key aspect. As stated in the ‘the truth of cessation of suffering’, understanding this is fundamental for escaping from suffering. Besides this and the other Noble Truths, Buddhism — of course — encompasses much more. Its versatility expresses itself in the variety of approaches. These are taught at Buddhist schools and temples, a process one needs to commit to. The Theravada and Mahayana are the two largest schools. Two overarching approaches from which new approaches flow. Mahayana developed in the north, while Theravāda Buddhism spread in the south (Figure 1).

In many places where Buddhism gained a substantial following, traditions and approach adapted. Missionaries showed the capability of transforming and embracing local ideas and practices.⁸ In China, Taoism and Confucianism merged with Buddhism and turned into Chan-Buddhism. In Japan, Chan-Buddhism merged with the local Japanese culture and turned into Zen-Buddhism. And so, many other Asian countries and regions shaped their own forms. Eventually in the west, expressions of modernity like secularism, individualism and “rationality” needed to be emphasised in order to adapt. Or, in order to be acknowledged. According to David L. McMahan, this hybrid became so different to its root that Buddhist Modernism would be more of a fitting term.⁹

3. Interpretation, Zeitgeist and Expression

Early Encounters

In the early 19th century, information on Buddhism was particularly gained through academics and missionaries who visited colonised land. One can use Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism to describe how these encounters created simplistic and stereotypical views on non-European cultures.¹⁰ Orientalism entails the othering view of Middle Easterners. Meaning, the Orient was a place lacking ‘enlightenment’. Moreover, the depictions of ‘oriental’ cultures were shallow and one-dimensional, as if they missed “civilisation”. Even though Said discusses the Middle East, this concept can also be applied to encounters between European and Asiatic cultures, like Buddhist tradition. Europeans were placing themselves at the top of the hierarchy and from there categorising a normal ‘us’ and a different ‘them’. Dominance was prioritised and co-realised by forcing these ideas onto culture: ideologies from which colonial actions could be justified. Regions under colonial rule were seen as a project, something one could build up and engage with according to one’s vision, something that’s up for observation.

The first Christian translators of Buddhist text mainly presented it as something that should be replaced by Christianity.¹¹ Another interpretation that stems from these times came from scholars who wanted to know what colonised land had to offer. The translation of Buddhist texts was done very poorly as they weren’t aware of the cultural differences that gave value to these texts. This misunderstanding spilled over to other interested academics and philosophers. Reports on early encounters between the west and Buddhism formed a substantial part of the — back then considered — reliable information. As a reaction to the colonial depiction, in some regions the tradition was forced to present itself in a different manner. One that adapted to a western worldview based on “rationality”. In order to be acknowledged and fit this framework, Buddhists often presented their beliefs as based on reason and philosophy, a research in which religious aspects — such as the belief in afterlife — became latent.¹² Even though this positioning was forced, eventually — along with many westerners — Asian Buddhists took on this adaptation as the tradition got introduced to the west.

"rationality"

In the 19th century the ideas of the enlightenment were establishing itself as the backbone of western thinking. With science being its main tool, “truth” was found through reason. This supposedly objective way of finding truth was of course highly ideological, containing many western biases. The mentality of westerners being at the top of a hierarchy was backed by a self-claimed patent on “knowledge”. One can only divide fact from fiction through empirical observation. Anything that falls outside this systematic worldview could be regarded as impossible to verify, like worldviews which aren’t considered as “rational” for example. In a society that grows from this ideology, there can be very limited space for other notions, their worldview is regarded as the only “rational” one and therefore the only one that should be taken seriously.

The cold “rationality” and mechanistic thinking of the enlightenment left a void for those who felt that individual experience was downplayed by this one-sided worldview. Romanticism is an artistic and philosophical movement that flourished in Europe between the late 18th and mid-19th century, it arose as a reaction against the empiricism of the enlightenment. Which denied notions that could not be empirically observed. As an answer, Romantic train of thought dedicates itself to the exploration of the individual and its emotional interiority. Romantic paintings are often an attempt to depict an experience, a feeling (figure 2). Emphasising something that can’t be measured and therefore can’t be materialised.

Although Romantics saw a source of inspiration in Eastern traditions, they often projected their own idealistic worldview mainly onto India.¹³ As they were attracted by mysticism, they interpreted India as a spiritual Valhalla. Romantic philosophers — like Herder and Schlegel — envisioned an antidote to “rationalism” in Indian traditions. Nevertheless, they described a binary image of the East opposed to the industrial and materialistic west.¹⁴ Even though many took interest in other Eastern traditions, around the mid-19th century, philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was drawn to Buddhism. Nevertheless, he interpreted the philosophy poorly, as he thought it aligned exactly with his own thoughts.¹⁵ Although Schopenhauer isn’t necessarily a Romantic philosopher, the way he interpreted Buddhism exemplifies the misconception made around this era.

When serious interest in Asian religion arose in the late 19th century, Romantic philosophers already built a foundation for an interpretation of these traditions. Interpretations that other interested scholars, philosophers and artists would take on. By projecting a generalised image of in this case, Indian traditions — in which they appear as one with nature, transcendental and spiritual only — they formed a frame into which Buddhism was placed.

Spiritual Expression

Spirituality is an ambiguous term and just like Buddhism, it entails a worldview different from that of modernity because of ideas about an interconnected world. In order to clarify, author and activist bell hooks explains spirituality in a way that seems adequate: “spiritual life is first and foremost about commitment to a way of thinking and behaving that honours principles of inter-being and interconnectedness. When I speak of the spiritual, I refer to the recognition within everyone that there is a place of mystery in our lives where forces that are beyond human desire or will alter circumstances and/or guide and direct us. I call these forces “divine spirit”. When we choose to lead a spirit-filled life, we recognise and celebrate the presence of transcendent spirits. Some people call this presence soul, God, the Beloved, higher consciousness, or higher power. Still others say that this force is what it is because it cannot be named. To them it is simply the spirit moving in us and through us”.¹⁶

In the course of the 19th century — as a reaction to the ever spreading belief in modernity and science — interest in spiritual practices gained popularity.¹⁷ Terms such as ‘spirituality’ and ‘mysticism’ became conceptual equivalents of the scientific notion of empirical observation and their “truth” claims. What was considered spiritual became a blend of everything that in some way opposed scientific thought. The result was not only a rising interest in Eastern “exoticism”, but also in spiritual practices with a western background, such as esoteric traditions and “the occult”.

A trendy example of this interest in “spiritualism” or “the occult” coexisted mainly among the British and Americans. In this context, séances — communal events in which the supernatural and other phenomenas associated with spirituality were explored — were a common social activity.¹⁸ In a less popularised manner, this “spiritual hunger” manifested itself in a way that is more aligned with the commitment bell hooks explained. Artists like Hilma af Klint, Georgina Houghton and Emma Kunz explored their own inner lives and experiences, as they were involved in séances and found inspiration in esoteric traditions. Klint for example, took interest in Rosicrucianism and Theosophy (figure 3 and 4).¹⁹ Through this research she tried to make the invisible, visible. Klint was one of the first artists to turn this personal research into art, expressing it through symbolism. She was one of the first abstract painters but never got the same recognition as others like Kandinsky and Mondriaan. Klint was convinced that when she painted, she was in contact with beings of a higher level of consciousness, these entities used her as a medium. Her work is based on her experience that the spiritual dimension of human experience has become more and more marginalised in an increasingly materialistic world.²⁰

People got interested in forms of exploring spirituality, and the door was kept open through perceptions of Romantic philosophers. Direct and indirect successors of Romantic thought — such as Theosophy and Transcendentalism — were well-informed by this perception of Buddhism and other Asian religions.²¹ Therefore, the language these philosophical movements spoke was familiar ground for people such as D.T. Suzuki — a crucial monk in the introduction of Zen-Buddhism to America in the early 20th century — responded to this linguistic framework by translating Buddhism to fit this context. He described Zen as the pure unmediated experience of reality and the spontaneous living in harmony with that reality, with mystical experience as its essence.²² In Buddhisms adaptation to the west some presented it as a tradition that overlapped with western “rational” research. At the same time, Buddhism remained a reputation that overlapped with the western search for mysticism as well. Depending on who took interest, it became compatible with various interpretations and needs.

4. Popularisation and Commercialisation

The post-war period in the west is marked by upcoming economic prosperity and consumerism. Many began to distrust a society with a tunnel vision for growth and desire. The hippies looked for detachment from materialistic western standards. In their search, spiritual practices and Asian religions became a source of inspiration. Just like Theosophical philosophers in the 19th century. The hippies took an interest in Indian religions with a sentiment comparable to that of the Romantics. It was common for participants of this subculture to take trips to Tibet and India for spiritual inspiration, and famous names — like Jack Kerouac and The Beats — promoted their interest in Zen-Buddhism to the youth.²³ In their revolt against social standards, exploring one’s consciousness was an important theme.

In this rebellion against the establishment, drugs became a somewhat normalised method of researching one’s consciousness. Today, drugs can still be taken seriously as a mental research method. The visual effect of LSD became part of the way in which the hippies represented themselves. This is reflected in posters, a medium that presented them to the mass (figure 5). Intense colours and vivid patterns combined with characteristics of nature and abstract shapes. Mainly in America, many artists experimented with altered states of being through drugs and spiritual practices, before and during the hippie movement. This led to two overlapping branches in art called psychedelic and visionary art (figure 6). Both implicate experienced-based research methods, only in psychedelic art there is an emphasis on hallucinogenic drugs. Psychedelic art is often a visualisation of the experience gained through a trip. Visionary art revolves more around a spiritual research, often based on Asian religions and other forms of esoteric traditions. Even though drug use can be included in this research, the emphasis isn’t necessarily on drugs. It’s rather a part of researching ones spirituality.

Artists like Harry Smith, Richard Aldcroft, Francis Lee and James Whitney were already pioneering the psychedelic style before the hippies (figure 7). Whitney for example, aimed to convey inner consciousness through meditative techniques, creating a similar visual effect to hallucinogenics. He was inspired by Far Eastern metaphysics and contributed to the spiritual and artistic tradition that had given rise to abstract painting in the early twentieth century.²⁴ Even though the hippies shared their experiences gained through drugs and spiritual practices with the broader world, Author of the book Are You Experienced? (2011), Ken Jones, speaks about how pop-psychedelic culture pushed the limits of collective imagination in the ‘60s, and how this continued in the following decades.²⁵ Therefore, because of its overlap with spiritual practices — which became somewhat of a container term that encompasses drugs, esoteric traditions and Asian religions by now — it has had a huge impact on the iconography connected to the umbrella term of: “spirituality”.

New Age Imagery

As presented by the hippie-culture, spirituality became a well-known concept in the west. However, it was only after the ‘80s that it became commercialised. An important source of influence for this new framing was New Age, which arose around the same time. Even though it’s an ambiguous and complex term, generally it can be considered an expansion of the counterculture from the ‘60s and early ‘70s. It believes that the self is sacred, even though those involved tend to believe that the world is one interconnected being, spirituality lies only within oneself. New Age can be considered as self-spirituality, therefore its not an organised entity.²⁶ This approach opens doors for a more individualistic approach towards spiritual practices. In the ‘70s De Kosmos in Amsterdam grew out to be one of the biggest New Age centres of the Netherlands. In their flyers, its clearly visible how events are organised with themes ranging between different traditions from all around the world (figure 8). Undoubtedly, people benefited from this individualistic approach. However, this openness toward everything that’s perceived as spiritual can also lead to the appropriation of centuries of tradition, which can be the case with Buddhism. As one doesn’t need to commit to anything, complexity and depth can fade. In the context of consumerism, a logical consequence was that people began commercialising and branding the concept of “spirituality”. What’s supposed to be an in-depth research can become downgraded to a product.

“The crisis of American life does not seem to be generated by a lack of interest in spirituality. However, this interest is constantly co-opted by the powerful forces of materialism and hedonistic consumerism”.²⁷ This might as well be applied to my environment in some cases. The neighbourhood where I live — De Pijp — is generally known as a gentrified area in the Netherlands. When I look around, the outcome of this history becomes very clear. It seems like the current yoga, Self-help and social media trends are sometimes used more like a medicine. It seems more like a tool that improves the spiritual self for you. People try to fill up a need with a product, as if commitment is downplayed to a fast and easy solution. Like something that can be replaced with consumerism.²⁸ The ‘self’, inner life or sometimes even spirituality — whatever word it may be — it takes time and dedication to research. In Buddhist schools, monks study religious texts and meditation, as they commit to a research. Not to say that one must commit in the same manner in order to feel better but — as an anonymous speaker at the Chan-Buddhist He Hua Temple in Amsterdam told me — “as long as there is depth you can turn it into a working instrument”.

Another possible consequence of this individualistic replacement works counterproductive to the “honouring of principles of inter-being and interconnectedness” hooks discussed. As research on the self can be transformed into the more popular term: Self-development. One could think it’s doing something healthy and so something to be proud of. “It can boost the ‘self’ rather than it helps undermine it” was explained to me at the Nyingma Centre located in Amsterdam. It could potentially expand separation from others by narcissism, the opposite of hooks’ definition of spirituality.

Whether there’s depth or not, is something one can only judge for themselves. Otherwise, all that may be left is an extract. This concept can be applied to the branding of “spiritual” products for example. It illustrates how characteristics from Hilma af Klint to psychedelic art are implied. It’s a visual representation of the history of the concept of spirituality in the west, and how elements from different traditions and research methods are put into a single category (figure 9).

Besides the manifesting trend as presented by Gabby Bernstein, social media is full of this extract as well. There’s one specific example I want to highlight in which many mentioned characteristics of this extract come together. The Soulsisters.nl is an Instagram account dedicated to “spiritual” practices run by two influencers. This “spiritual” podcast also organises events as shown in one of their posts. In this session, they blend “spiritual” expressions in the style of the New Age (figure 10). Combining drugs — in the form of micro-dosing mushrooms — with Buddhist meditative poses. The packaging of the micro-dose portion up for purchase is branded with a symbol borrowed from a non-western religion: the ancient Egyptian symbol of the Eye of Horus. I obviously can’t judge whether this session has had a positive effect, but after New Age and the hippies, I can’t ignore the origins of their branding decisions. Which — in an iconographic sense — is very widespread considering the billion dollar market behind Self-Help books alone (figure 11).²⁹

A comment on the same soulsisters.nl post — which I don’t prefer to include because of its content — embodies an attitude that this representation of “spiritual practices” co-creates. Cynical, as the commenter tags his friends in order to share this laugh. As if spirituality lost its meaning, due to representation. In an item of the podcast: NRC Future Affairs, the hosts discuss how certain associations lead to a skeptical attitude toward the term “spirituality” as well. For them, the idea of there being something through which everything is connected, makes associations with monotheistic religion arise. Which clashes with their western atheistic habituation. A notion fundamental for spirituality as hooks explained by mentioning a “a divine spirit, soul, God or higher power”. Obviously, I can’t know how individuals exactly perceive this term. However, even for me — based on past experiences when this topic was brought up — it feels like spirituality is often not taken seriously. It even feels like people feel alienated from ideas about “how everything is connected”. Whether by associations with something supernatural or by plain cynicism, spirituality often appears to be perceived as strange, or as “vague and ambiguous”.³⁰ An attitude that hinders openness to ideas different than that of modernity.

5. A Train of Thought

Regarding Buddhism, the way in which it’s understood in the west has a layered and complex history. Because interpretations differ per person, it’s impossible to describe one understanding for a whole tradition. Nevertheless, what I can settle on is the way in which Buddhism often is commercialised and trivialised. A somewhat biased fascination in mystical Eastern religions — by Romanticism and the hippie culture — was influential in the development of this misinterpretation. Together with other traditions, Buddhism can become generalised under the umbrella term: “spirituality”. This, besides a certain iconography, could also be associated with an individual — and sometimes less committed — approach to spiritual practices.

An institution that is positioned between a contemporary individualistic and a traditional approach to Buddhism is Zen.nl. This network of Zen-Buddhist centres offers various products, courses and activities related to meditation and Self-help. It states on its website that its mission is “to facilitate as many people as possible in achieving sustainable happiness”. Since its foundation in 1987, this organisation has helped over 30,000 people learn how to meditate. Their website provides empirical data stating the effect of their services. In a topic on their website, participants send in images related to its title: ‘Zen Photo of the Week’ (figure 12). Even though I can’t be sure of the thought behind the submitted images, they seem to depict a feeling associated with peacefulness, with the feeling of being Zen. It shows a depiction of an experience. While mainstream portrayals of “spirituality” often lean toward amalgamating branding decisions — which are in a way interpretations — ‘Zen Photo of the Week’ reflects a more modest, authentic expression of an interpretation of spirituality. A pattern I tend to notice is because the approach zen.nl offers stays relatively close to the original tradition that is honoured, romanticisation and fusion with other traditions is less present. Therefore, the connotation — to Buddhist tradition — of the participants seems only lightly romanticised and free from amalgamation. As an addition to this envisioned theory, institutions which remain closest to the original Buddhist tradition in the Netherlands seem to be even more distant from romanticisation and stick to a traditional expression of their practice. The He Hua Temple for example promotes itself without any exaggerated design: no depictions of a feeling or anything decorative, only an informative representation of the tradition. Obviously, this envisioned pattern doesn’t conclude anything, but it feels like the closer to the original approach — and commitment — the less likely it is to spread an image of Buddhism — and other traditions — that can lead to misinterpretation, or even a skeptical attitude toward spiritual practices as seen with the Soulsisters. However, this skepticism could potentially get refuted, as spirituality could gain more acknowledgement — ironically — backed by science.

As I said, ideas about “how everything is connected” often aren’t taken seriously, but what seemed like just an idea only is now “somewhat scientifically proven”.³¹ Carlo Rovelli and Bernardo Kastrup have a background in quantum physics — the study of the smallest particles — but are now regarded as philosophers due to the metaphysical theories their branch of science tends to offer. They both strongly promote ideas of an interconnected world: a world in which things aren’t independent but exist as a connected whole. Rovelli’s theory of Relational thinking could be considered a contemporary expression of spirituality due to its explanation of this idea.³² A theory which states an explanation of reality very similar to ‘the truth of cessation of suffering’ as the Buddha tells.

The notion of buen vivir challenges the dichotomy of human and nature according to Vázquez.³³ Because it’s based on relation between human and nature, instead of modern thoughts of separation. I simply can’t measure the influence of science on western thinking. But according to both Kastrup and Vázquez, it has a significant influence on western thinking or modernity. Therefore — according to Vázquez — breaking with the metaphysical background of science can be viewed as fundamental in the process of breaking with modernity. Whether by decolonisation, or by listening to a scientifically accepted worldview — that quantum physics offers — the idea of interconnectedness and relation seems to be a returning theme. Therefore, the way in which buen vivir challenges a western worldview, can be applied to Buddhism — or spirituality — and modernity as well. As it perpetuates interconnectedness between human, spirit and nature, instead of the philosophical assumption of things existing independently — metaphysical materialism — which is dominant in science.³⁴ Even though Romantic philosophers came long before me. By sticking to only an open attitude, the romanticisation of other worldviews — such as that of Buddhist tradition — can be prevented and ideas about interconnectedness could maybe be perceived as realistic.

It’s a train of thought, I potentially could apply to my practice as a designer as well. For example by deepening my understanding for traditions that have researched and theorised the relation between matter and spirit, like Alchemy. The golden ratio seems to be a formula for nature and when applied to art it can make a composition feel natural. This is an example of how there are techniques able to manipulate the way eyes perceive things. A technique that works on everyone’s eyes and therefore emphasises connection. In the context of communication through graphic design, I want to research techniques, references, shapes and textures that emphasise this connection.