Lesley University DigitalCommons@Lesley Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences Expressive Therapies Dissertations (GSASS) 5-19-2010 Aesthetic Mind-Meditative Mind: Reflections On Art As Yoga And Contemplative Practice Michael A. Franklin Lesley University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Franklin, Michael A., "Aesthetic Mind-Meditative Mind: Reflections On Art As Yoga And Contemplative Practice" (2010). Expressive Therapies Dissertations. 73. https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_dissertations/73 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences (GSASS) at DigitalCommons@Lesley. It has been accepted for inclusion in Expressive Therapies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Lesley. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 AESTHETIC MIND—MEDITATIVE MIND: REFLECTIONS ON ART AS YOGA AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE A DISSERTATION submitted by MICHAEL A. FRANKLIN, M.A. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy LESLEY UNIVERSITY May 19, 2010 2 3 4 © 2010 Michael Franklin All rights reserved 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A project of this scope requires guidance and support from several people. First, I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Shawn McNiff for his generous offering of time, critical feedback, and most of all, collegial camaraderie. His fine-tuned open mind welcomed my many drafts with curiosity and incisive feedback. As a pioneering voice in the field of art-based research, he blazed a trail that I am honored to contribute to. I would also like to thank Dr. Laury Rappaport for her astute reading of each manuscript. As a contemplative and expressive therapist, her direct experience from her research and her practice life was invaluable. As well, I would like to thank my other committee member, Dr. Neal Klein for his willingness to serve on my committee and also my Lesley University cohort members, Sunhee Kim, Yousef AlAjarma, Keren Barzilay-Shecter, and Sangeeta Swamy. My deepest gratitude to Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi, Zoe Avstreih LPC, NCC, ADTR, Dr. Susan Burggraf, Leah Friedman-Spohn MA, and Leeny Sack for viewing and responding to the artwork I created. Other mentors who contributed to this project include several Naropa University Professors, particularly Sreedevi Bringi, Dr. Peter Grossenbacher, Dr. Thomas Coburn, and Dr. Robert Atchley. Thank you for your thoughtful contributions to my emerging ideas. Additionally, there were several colleagues from Naropa University who have been an invaluable and encouraging resource over the years, particularly Sue Wallingford, Leah Friedman-Spohn, and Merryl Rothaus. Because my coursework took place at both Lesley University and Naropa University, there are many other inspiring professors, too numerous to mention here, who were critical mentors in helping to shape the ideas contained in this project. My students at Naropa University also deserve a word of thanks for their patience with me during my doctoral studies. Additionally, Jan Freya offered invaluable editorial support – thank you Jan. Before my academic career began, I was fortunate to have four important mentors over the years that saw my ambitions and stoked the trajectory of my life’s work. Professor Richard Loveless, Professor Elinor Ulman, Dr. Douglas Blandy, and M. C. Richards. For different reasons, all four believed in me and encouraged my desire to study and teach art therapy. A heartfelt thank you is in order to Jo McBride, my life partner who brings love, abundant kindness, and also intellectual curiosity to our daily life together. Also, the two doctors who saved my life, Dr. Charles Anderson and Dr. Patrick Walsh – deserve mention and my sincere appreciation for practicing so competently the art of medicine. Lastly, this entire work is dedicated to two important women in my life, my late mother Bernice Kay-Franklin and her unyielding belief in art and psychology as my dharmic life path. And my root teacher, Swami Chidvilasananda, whose vast love, Grace, and support inspires the flame of Yoga to burn bright in my life. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.............................................................................................11 ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................15 I: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................16 General Outline of the Dissertation .......................................................................18 Definitions and Meaning .......................................................................................21 To Contemplate.........................................................................................21 Yoga...........................................................................................................23 Shiva, Shakti, and Spanda .........................................................................24 Practice ......................................................................................................26 Art..............................................................................................................27 Art Based Research (ABR)........................................................................33 Meditation..................................................................................................40 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................................................45 Section I: The Contemplative and Transpersonal Roots of Art and Art Therapy......................................................................................................45 Art, Sympathy, and Aesthetic Empathy ....................................................49 Art Therapy and Spirituality......................................................................52 Intermodal Emphasis in Art Therapy ........................................................55 Art as Spiritual and Contemplative Practice..............................................58 Transpersonal and Imaginal Foundations..................................................67 Section II: Yoga, Art, and Contemplative Practice ...............................................72 Overview of Yoga and Art Practice...........................................................77 Historical Review of Yoga Traditions.......................................................80 Samkhya and the Three Gunas ......................................................80 Advaita Vedanta and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali........................85 Art, Silence, and Solitude ..............................................................88 Art as Yoga: A Kashmir Shaivite Perspective...............................92 The Five Acts of Lord Shiva .......................................................100 Matrika Shakti: The Levels of Speech and the Emergence of Images..............................................................................103 Art, Mantra, and Repetition.........................................................110 Visualizing the Divine: Sacred Methods for Contemplating Containment, Edges, and Center .....................................113 Darshan: Seeing the Divine .........................................................117 Tasting the Divine: Rasa, Yoga, and Art as Worship..................123 Tantra, Karma, and Sublimation in Art .......................................132 Yoga and the Practice of Imagination .........................................136 7 Section III: Meditation, Art, and the Practice of Imagination .............................144 Overview of Meditation, Art, and the Practice of Imagination.................146 States and Traits of Meditation .................................................................149 State and Trait Similarities Between Meditation and Visual Art..................................................................151 Meditation and the Practice of Imagination.................................159 Islamic Sufi Meditation and the Imagination ..............................162 Summary..............................................................................................................167 3: FRAGILITY AND RESILIENCY: TRANSPERSONAL AND ART-BASED RESEARCH METHODS APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF A LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESS......................................................................168 Art Based Contemplative Inquiry........................................................................170 Action/Stimulus .......................................................................................171 Effect/Outcome/Consequence .................................................................171 Contemplative Observation and Methods for Working With Images.....171 Understanding/Insight..............................................................................172 Integration/Application/Relevance..........................................................173 The Combined Practices of Art, Meditation, and Imagination............................173 Contemplative Relationships: Art as a Process of Manifesting Others...176 Working With