"By awakening and flowing our love energy we become more creative." - Deerheart

BUDDHA
by Osamu Tezuka

A Book Review by Deerheart

A gripping epic adventure biography, a relentless page-turner, Buddha is Tezuka's crowning achievement, his supreme masterpiece. Best known for his incredible fantasy adventure series, Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) is the father of Japanese Manga Comics. The first English hardcover edition of Buddha was published in 2003. The English paperback edition came out in 2006. This amazing 8 volume series is truly inspiring. It brings to mind the lives of Gandhi and Jesus in expressing the power of love, compassion, and nonviolent action.

Amazingly, his exquisite artwork ranges from Disney-like characters to a style more reminiscent of traditional Chinese landscape paintings, with vast vistas and ornate stone-carved architecture. The graphic novel panels keep the reader on the edge of the seat, with many unexpected twists and turns of the plot.

It follows the life of Siddhartha (the Buddha) and the many people he influences and who influence him. It takes place in India, 400 to 500 years before the birth of Christ, at a time and a place when the caste system was strictly enforced, with privileged wealthy royalty and religious elite on one end and persecuted naked slaves and thieves on the other. The books masterfully combine romance, adventure, humor, philosophy, mysticism, and wisdom. It is an unflinching, uncensored look at the ugliness and the beauty of life, the sufferings and the joys of life, from tragedy to ecstasy, it is all here in this grand and sweeping tale with a cast of hundreds. Tezuka has succeeded in creating one of the most inspiring works I have ever experienced.

The entire 8 volume hardcover set of Buddha may be purchased through the slideshow below. The paperback version of the set is available through our Love Energy Bookstore.

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The Mission of Art
by Alex Grey

A Book Review by Deerheart

"Transformational" describes the artwork of visionary artist Alex Grey. His artwork transforms our way of thinking about the world. This then is the mission of art, to transform the world.

In his book, The Mission of Art, he explains that artists through the ages have been vanguards of cultural change and evolutionary progress. They have lead the way to a better world. This is the role of visionary artists, to visualize a better world and put that vision into concrete form in the physical world, through their artwork.

Artists help us to think about the world in new ways and consequently we begin to feel differently about the world. Such art is fundamentally transformational. It transforms us as individuals, which eventually transforms society as a whole. Just as the artwork of Alex Grey transforms us today, so too the work of Michelangelo, Hieronymous Bosch, William Blake, and Salvador Dali have all transformed society in previous ages.

The mission of artists in today's world is no less important in moving our society forward into a better and brighter future. This book invites us as artists to accept the mantle of power as cultural leaders to create a new and better society and world. As that great cultural leader, Allen Ginsberg, once said, "Whoever controls the media - the images - controls the culture."

This book and other amazing books, CDs, and DVDs by Alex Grey are available to order through the slide show below. You may also find these and other great books about art and spirituality through the Love Energy Bookstore.

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"Whoever controls the media - the images - controls the culture." - Allen Ginsberg

The Spiritual Practice of Devotional Art
by Deerheart

My art is devotional art. It expresses my adoration of the Goddess. It is a practice of devotion to the Goddess, to honor her and what she symbolizes. I dedicate my creative energy to spreading the loving, nurturing, and healing energy of the Goddess. When I make art it is an act of devotion. It is a ritual act, an act of love. My art embodies love. The images below are my original art.

What does the Goddess mean to me? The Goddess is multi-faceted. She has many faces, many manifestations, many aspects. She symbolizes and embodies the sacredness of life, beauty, love, nurturing, gentleness, compassion, abundance, intuition, sensitivity, emotion, sensuality, sexuality, and creativity. The Goddess embodies the sacred-erotic, the creative instinct. The Goddess is my muse. She is my inspiration. She embodies the great mystery of life and creativity. It is said of the Goddess, "All acts of love and pleasure are her rituals."

My spiritual practice is to honor the Goddess by nurturing my own body through yoga, breathing, sacred-sex, meditation, prayer, eating healthy vegetarian food, and by drawing and painting. Loving myself is equal to loving other people. I honor the Goddess by practicing good, healthy habits, habits which benefit both me and those around me and the entire world.

My ritual practice is to bow down before and image of the Goddess on my altar. I honor the Goddess Parvati, the Goddess of beauty and the Goddess Sarasvati, the Goddess of creativity. I pray to the Goddess for inspiration. I honor her sacred yoni. The Goddess welcomes my sexual nature. She wants me to have sexual pleasure. She fills my body with creative sexual energy, which strengthens my will and personal creative powers. I embody the sacred God energy of Shiva, the God of dance. The love energy within me builds stronger and stronger. I reach higher and higher states of ecstasy and bliss. As my bliss increases my creative power also expands.

I believe it is the will of the creator, the great spirit, both God and Goddess, both male and female aspects of creation to increase love and pleasure and happiness and peace in the world. By expanding my creative expression, I increase the levels of love energy in the world. My art expresses love and healing for all living beings all over the earth.