English version
CREDO DES INSTRUMENTALISTS
Fantomas
Is back , avec le Chien à Matta
We are not the Doers
At least, not who we think we are: not the body and mind, nor the costume and role. Not the “I” from “I have.”
The sole original Creator, and therefore the One who does, is the One observing who we think we are. The great Witness or Soul or Actor. That is the One who is aware of our joy and our pain, without being affected in the least. It is the “I” from I am.
That One exists beyond appearances, beyond all change and we are all It.
From that one silence, all sounds are born. And from that single Space, all forms emerge, changing ceaselessly before returning.
All but silence and space lie outside the Self and belong to the impermanent and perishable world of the false, subject to ups and downs .
The Body and mind remain outside the “I,” as do thoughts from the awake state as well as dreams from the state of sleep.
The body and mind, grand imitators, remain incapable of creating nonetheless, being themselves products of It/the One. Likewise, a computer is unable to create its own software without the help of its engineer. At best, they may participate in Evolution.
Art originates from the beyond, and pulsating with the thrill of life, allows us to visualize Truth, letting us experience the bliss of existence.
Indeed, the difference between creating a work of art and creating a universe is merely a difference in quantity, not quality.
But! Need we drink the ocean entire to know its taste? Let us understand that the only limitation to Art is the artist .
Thus, we may by-pass the deceptive body and mind, the only resistances to Creation, to reach the Beyond within.
1) To recognize the clear limitations of what lies without, as well as the limitations of the minuscule portal of our imagination. Truth is so much more fun than fiction and above all, it is True.
2) To surrender to the will of the Soul. Then, the Universe will begin to make use of us, not for our selfish individual goals, but for the wellbeing of all existence.
The Universe taking its course, we develop the ability to attune ourselves, bit by bit, to the universal program, becoming more effective with every new experience.
3) To humbly accept the non-understandable, yet nevertheless extremely consistent creative power making use of us for the benefit of all.
4) At the same time, to develop a limitless ambition to serve, and an enormous love, so as to be a good instrument. After all, anything else is a waste of life. It takes many years to change motivation: from the peak of selfishness, turning the world to ones individual goals, attached to both success and failure, to becoming a proper instrument ready to serve in the hands of the All. Without past or future, the process remains its own reward and generates ample surprise to pay the rent of life.
How do we proceed toward that silence and space?
5) A non-instrumentalist can do naught but re-know the instrumentalist within. Likewise, darkness does not exist in the presence of light and cannot reduce the light in any way. Re-know the luminous validity of listening and seeing with the least possible interference from the non-self. Here is where Intuition enters, Mother of all intelligence. We cannot learn to be, because we already are. But we can unlearn to “not be:” completely lost in the individual role of body and mind, to re-know the spiritual Do-er.
When an actress plays the part of an ill, elderly women at the theatre, does the actress return home, still playing the ill and elderly woman?
6) To avoid exerting full control and/or egocentric ownership, over either process or result, and to thus eliminate the individualistic resistance of our ignorance.
On the contrary, to submit oneself to being a devoted servant of universal Love, with the sole goal of becoming yet more devoted, harmonious and more essential. To cultivate faith in being part of a formidable team for whom the limit is further than the sky, as the former is at the origin of the latter’s manifestation, and its reason to be.
7) To simplify rather than complicate. The necessary elements for any specific task will always be at hand. The instrumentalist advances one step at a time, without knowledge of the step that will follow. This requires a good deal of courage and confidence. One step at a time. This is not complicated. All that is needed is to keep going.
8) To recognize that mistakes are but opportunities, that imperfections are perfect, in the same manner that a leaking roof leaks perfectly well. That the universe is very effective and interactive; with reason to be so, without good luck or bad. That order reigns, and that chaos is but an illusion, simply due to mental confusion and a lack of faith .
9) To listen and visualize, rather than speak and make choices. The instrumentalist knows by direct experience that, given a crossroads, the chosen path will be decided by neither body nor mind, but rather by merit, which automatically guides us in the most beneficial path at each moment. We must verily learn to follow the promptings of intuition (the voice of the Universe), without paying too much interest to the blabbering of the mind and its self-interested thoughts (the voice of the individual)
10) To abolish preconceived ideas, preferences and judgments, drawn from personal identification. The wave, which rises and breaks on the shore, believes it is dying, when in reality, it is the ocean, inseparable and immortal.
11) To understand that understanding is limited only to the outside appearances and transforms with time, therefore exchanging it for Faith , trust and confidence, which are immensely more permanent human values
12) To take credit. This is pretentious and destroys talent and the proper transmission of creative force. Humility (not taking credit) is what facilitates talent and good reception of this essential force. How could a radio receiver believe itself to be a radio program? Then the words of Jean Cocteau become understandable "With talents you do what you want; with genius you do what you can. " Of course, the "want" is limited to the individual; the limits of “can” are the Universe entire.
13) For minimal intervention. Due to our individuality (Ego) we put in place a resistance to Art and limit the output of creation. The ideal would be to discover the whole picture of the puzzle with as few pieces as possible. This is applicable in many domains: composition, form, colour, light, contrast, the revelation of presence and even content and meaning; thin lines are these outside of which death and inertia reign the moment one steps off of them. The more we intervene, the more we limit and destroy, with deplorable consequences to authenticity and vitality.
14) To have one’s beliefs and doubts transcended by a direct knowing, acquired through personal experience. How could we know the flavor of a fruit without eating it? At times, to witness its "incredible" beauty, its goodness, its elegance, its simplicity, and above all, its realness.
We are ONE, but we are not alone.
15) To know that every rule brings with itself its own equally valid exception. For example: the rule of minimal intervention, which sometimes produces maximal intervention, in which case the rule of minimal intervention is still valid. And the rule of the 95%, that stipulates that 5% is enough to procure experience, knowledge, growth and wisdom. To create the experience of hot water, a short time under cold water is enough. A lesson for the perfectionists, who achieve boredom, stagnation and death by unknowingly aiming for the full 100%.
Would the universe as we know it exist if matter were in exact equilibrium with anti-matter?
16) To use all our intuitive receptive resources, including the body and mind in non-resistant mode. We have to learn the difference between the genuine message from the beyond (the deep Self) and wishful thinking. Listening involves: common sense, logic, knowledge, remembering and trust. For example, we must be willing to make choices based on a coin toss when necessary. It requires fearlessness, love, gratefulness, and reuniting them all, intuition, assuring solidarity, as does the rope of the mountaineers.
To receive and retransmit well, one must forget oneself.
17) Instrumentalism doesn’t make us the best, but it elevates us to being our best.
18) Instrumentalism develops an art of living that is Universally applicable. Becoming a good instrument opens the most direct way to finally BEING.
2014 - Curacao - Le ZZ Team . Giovani et Philippe Zanolino . English version in collaboration with Patrick Scannell .
"I think that every artist is on earth to create a myth, or rather to research in an original way the primordial myth. All his life, his entire research must be seen as an odyssey... We always have to go back to our ‘Dog,’ but this is only valuable if we have consecrated all our energy to go around the Universe, before reaching ourselves.”
Roberto Matta
