Tuesdays, April 2-23, 6:30-8:30 pm. Taught by Rev. Eric Arbiter and Maite Leal
During this four-week class, Maite Leal and Eric Arbiter will explore how the arts can help all of us to develop and appreciate this “eye of the artist”. They will present some of their favorite artworks including painting, graphic arts, music and literature as personal examples of how the arts functioned and continue function as dharma gates for them.
In his preface to The Way of Everyday Life (comments on Dogen Zenji’s Genjokoan by Taizan Maezumi), translator Francis Dojun Cook remarked, “There are few people who do not sense some degree of insufficiency within themselves, some barrenness of life and its possibilities. Who has not wished to be more and do more? Yet it may be that we are good enough to live this life. First, however, we must learn to see clearly. The problem is our perception, for we do not see nearly as well as we think we do. We lack the eye of the artist, and by “artist” I do not mean someone who merely versifies or paints, but someone who can see what the rest of us miss.”
Each class begins with a period of meditation followed by a discussion.
Eric is a member of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and a senior member of HZC.
Maite is a long-time Zen practitioner. She lives her life restoring art. She works at MFAH.
Eric Arbiter and Maite Leal, two artists.