The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors

If you have never heard of Alex Grey it would behoove you to check him out and learn to love him because his artwork gets to the root of the life (and death) experience and reminds us that there are transcendental phenomenons in life that form the very essence of who we are .

I took a journey to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors today. It was a refreshing and necessary reminder that the intangible exists, that we are all one, that we are all made of the same stuff, and that love is the most powerful force in the world. When I walked in, I looked up and the first thing i saw painted in and elegant calligraphy-esque format was "Surrendor to Love" which is my MySpace name and the password basically all of my webpages which i will now change. I thought I had coined that phrase haha! Anyway, this was my first indication that we were on the same wavelength, which I already knew, but this solidified it. The quotes that he used in his works and books, the ones that inspired him, were also ones that I have used, ones that have inspired me. For instance, one of the quotes he used was the same Marriance Williamson quote that i used in my graduation speech. One of my favez to this day:

"Our biggest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,or gorgeousor talentedor fabulous?Actually, who are you NOT to be?You are a child of God.You playing small doesn't serve the world.There's nothing enlightened about shrinkingso that other people won't feel insecure around you.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It's not just in some of us; it's in every one of us.And as we let our own light shine,we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.As we are liberated from our fear of our own excellence,our presence automatically liberates others.And excellence becomes the standard of all our lives."

I can actually still hear myself reciting it with the same intonations I used way back when. haha.

Another reason why I love Alex Grey, a reason that I just realized today from going to the Chapel is that he sees the good, or maybe the usefulness in all great (wo)men. "Cosmic Christ" is basically a painting of God framgented into different windows into which we can look and see different historically significant men and situations that have had a significant impact on the story of mankind, his story, if you will. =) In the windows, he painted everyone from the likes of Einstein to Mother Theresa, from Ghandi to Hitler. He even painted a scene in Nazi Germany. Basically, we are all God's children.
This Cosmic Christ picture made me a little sad because it got me thinking of 9/11. If we were all created in the likeness of God, are all made of the same "stuff," and are all part of this collective oneness, then when the terrorists flew their planes into the world trade center, they weren't killing the American enemy, they were killing themselves. Obviously this isn't the only situation that this concept of brotherhood/sisterhood applies to, but it's what struck a chord in me.

His paintings are illustrations of sacred events in life; love, pregnancy, birth, death, caring etc.. They illustrate the mergence of mind, body, and soul. His cognitive pallet is clearly love and he transcribes it onto a tangible canvas in a colorful, balanced, powerful, open, thoughtful, important, deep and meaningful way. His paintings remind us that what is really improtant is not the "thing" itself, but the "essence of things." His art is a product of transbustantial experiences induced in large part by LSD. This might be a turn-off to some people who think that inspirations induced by drugs are not authentic and therefor not relevent. However, the tricks of his trade certainly do not undermine the relevancy of his work to every single area of our lives. His paintings scream soulfulness. They are perfect because they are based on the Truth, which is timeless. I think the msot powerful piece of artwork was probably the big, reflective mirror (a reflective mirror, imagine that!) in the hall that had a grid with a circle int he middle that said "God" out of which is reflected the imagine of whoever stares into it with this "God" emblem written across their chest. Basically, we are all, when you get past the makeup, the tatoos, the hair, the nail polish, the skin, or whatever else is temporarily alloted to us for recreational purposes, the same. We are all inwardly perfect. Alex Grey is great because he manifests the larger concepts of "oneness" in such a comprehensive, accessible way. His art is perfect. Sacred. Beautiful. Bursting with love.

So much more to write.
Bursting with loveeeeeeee...the deep kind not the superficial kind.


Definitely going back to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors for another dose of reality.



"I subject my awareness to the perfection of being, the perfection of wisdom and perfection of love, all of these being co-present in the Vast Expanse. I share this panorama of Being and appreciate all I can share it with... the seamless interweaving of consciousness with each moment."
-Alex Grey

Psychedelic dude.