Striving for individuality in the age of conformity produces idolatry. If I see the Buddha on the path, he will die.

Are all religions universal? I do believe so. They are the products of our mind. Miracles and divinities from thousands of years past remain among us; we just have to open our eyes and minds a little broader. What we are doing right now dictates the vivacity and its direction as we strive to make our “beliefs” believable. When questions exist answers must come into being. When questions cease, answers will also desist, silence ensues and evolutionary links are broken.

Identity and ego in combination scream “This is me!” What is this ‘me’ we are in search of? Striving for individuality in the age of conformity produces idolatry. “If you meet the Buddha on the path, kill him.” A Zen way of encompassing the profound. Confusion is created and the path to enlightenment and truth is pure – no idols or teachers frequent that path, brush them aside and go forth alone. The condition that anchors this koan is missing; Buddha has killed you already thus releasing you to the path to seek your own truth.
Recall Charles Dickens’, “A Tale of two cities”, he wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Identities form opinion and beliefs. You see a season of light, I see a season of darkness; I live in the spring of hope, you in the winter of despair. It is cyclical and timeless, and each individual must decide what they choose to believe. I am an artist because I believe myself to be an artist, art being the idea rather than the finished piece. The idea constructs the reality, the reality deconstructs the idea.

I realise I have choices and I can have doubts regarding what is in front of me. It makes me question and this ensures I continue on the path. If I see the Buddha on the path, he will die.