Be Present. Be happy.

“It is rather possible that they were bound by no strict rules and regulations. The early artists had their ideas and they tried to give shape and form to those ideas. They allowed their brush or chisel full liberty and tried to develop their own workmanship. They had no tradition to follow, but to build up their own tradition for posterly. We need not therefore, be surprised if some of their representations would be crude in execution.”

“When others followed, they tried to improve the standard, but it required a genius to raise the standard of art and sculpture. In the work of Sanchi pillars or Sarnatha pillar the hand of such a genius is observable.”

Art has a lot of definitions, all can be right. It has always been with us throughout human history. Art is something that gives us harmony, happiness, recharges us and helps us to be connected. If Art is around, we are not alone.
Meditation keeps us in the present, and being in the present is the core of human life. Our mind can never stop; it always needs a job, a task to do. When it is doing something with effort, it remains with it, when it is not occupied, it wanders around. We need to engage it with a job that we choose. It can be any ordinary task that needs concentration, so our mind can focus on it and could stay with it, and in that way it keeps us in the present. Or in case it is a transcendental, a spiritual activity, it takes us to a different level of existence.
Society identifies us with our actions, not with our personality or nature, just what we did. Every individual is a person who acts, but he is not the action itself. It is not easy to realize that, because we were raised to recognise one another through actions. Action reflects our nature, our education, our cultural background and mostly what we believe is expected of us. To free ourselves from all these different layers is a long spiritual journey.
There are some people with mental problems who are stuck in this present. Because they did not prepare themselves for this type of condition, they don’t know what they can do with being present. People around them will be confused, because these people will not remember their own life story, that part is gone. They cannot make any plans in advance, because the future does not exist for them. They have only the present moment, but they have arrived there from a very different way, they arrived like losers.
Meditation is good for healing in general; it gives space to one’s own healing energies. Art provides an experience of being present, and presence is the place where we get support, where the mind is able to connect with the Universe.
There is some relevant scientific research that proved that Art can have substantial benefits for any type of illness.