The art of witnessing thoughts.

I have been reading various Zen Buddhist teachings and using my painting to explore these concepts. One of the most powerful ideas that has influenced me is the Buddhist teaching that if we become the witnesser of our thoughts, then we enter into a new state of awareness. We realise that by being separate from our thoughts, we are not our thoughts. Eckhart Tolle explains this idea in his book, The Power of Now.

In this picture, the witnesser is symbolised by the hub of a wheel, which is still, while thoughts revolve around it. I used the images of the sun and moon together to capture both the idea of timelessness and infinite. When I witness my thoughts, I find myself looking deep within, into my centre, while at the sametime, as thoughts drift away, I feel a connection with a formless awareness that is infinite.