The checklist

In one of Osho’s discourses *, he shared a list of ten Non-Commandments:

1. Freedom
2. Uniqueness of Individuality
3. Love
4. Meditation
5. Non-Seriousness
6. Playfulness
7. Creativity
8. Sensitivity
9. Gratefulness
10. A Feeling of the Mysterious

Some time ago, I began using this list as a checklist for my paintings.

I would ask myself:

– Does this painting have freedom?
– Is it unique?
– Can I feel the love in it?
– Is there a flavour of meditation?
– Is it non-serious?

I remember showing a painting to my friend Nisha, and she would often say, “It is nice, but I miss something playful, something non-serious.” This comment often gave me the courage to continue in a playful way.

Number ten is especially important to me: Is there a feeling of the mysterious in the painting? If the answer is no, then I need to continue.

Alongside this list, there are two other principles that I find essential in the creative process.

The first is: Let go.

This becomes important whenever I get stuck and feel that I have reached a dead end.

The second is: Never give up.

This reminder has helped me many times.

When I was leading painting workshops, I encouraged participants to take ownership of their paintings and to take them home rather than leave them behind. Yet many paintings were abandoned. I felt that the participants were judging them as failures or as having no value.

Often, I would pick up one of these abandoned paintings and continue working on it until it became my own.

For me, there are no good or bad paintings. There are only finished paintings and unfinished ones.

Throughout my painting journey, Osho’s ten non-commandments, together with the principles of letting go and never giving up, have been invaluable companions.

And here also a selection from 2022:

Related articles

• * Ten non-commandments – a discourse excerpt
• My ten commandments – from A Cup of Tea
• The ten commandments – Osho tells a joke
• Gracious One, Play – Shivananda ponders over his 10 (playful) commandments for painting

Shivananda

Shivananda is a painter, graphic designer, singer and musician. shivananda.ch – heartsinging.ch