MAY 2008 - Rapid River Magazine

R A P I D R I V E R A R T S & C U L T U R E M A G A Z I N E
The Omega Journey
What a muddle humanity is in.
A simple honest look tells us
that the Earth’s human population
is presently estimated
to be 6.6 billion and growing
exponentially, estimated to
top 9 billion by 2050, increasing by over a
third in forty years.
Earth’s non-human populations
are dwindling alarmingly.
The Earth’s resources, likewise,
are dwindling alarmingly. Humanity
has been compared to a cancer
spreading across the organism
Earth, dooming its host, and likewise,
itself. Like mythic lemmings
Bill
Walz
Padma’s parents named her Melissa,
but during her yoga teacher training
course Padma settled on the name
that she goes by today. She derived
“Padma” from “padma-asana,” the
Sanskrit name for the Lotus Pose.
Her family to this day doesn’t fully
understand her chosen path or call her by
her chosen name, but they respect it, for
they understand that Padma is walking
the path that brings her happiness.
Padma has always sought to make
her own way in the world, though it was
not until she was 21 she discovered her
love of painting. She remembers how enthralled
she was when granted the use of
a friend’s painting supplies: “I spent nine
hours painting the front door.” Ever since
then, she was hooked. Soon afterward,
she enrolled in East Tennessee State
University to study painting.
by Bill Walz
headed for a cliff, the surging
herd of humanity swarms blindly
toward its demise. This tide is
spreading such that this promontory
in the universe, our home planet, will
no longer be able to contain its multitudes
and begin spilling us off.
But, we are not lemmings, nor cancer.
We have intelligence. This is what the
mid-20 th Century theologian and paleontologist
Teilhard de Chardin understood.
We have a complex consciousness that
is not limited to a linear destiny such as
lemmings that multiply endlessly and
then swarm over a cliff in their migration
simply because the momentum of their
numbers cannot stop when the edge is
encountered. Humanity is capable of leaps
of quantum understanding.
Humanity and all those species that
we co-inhabit this planet with are at the
edge. All the habits of humanity lead us
toward demise. Greed, competitiveness,
national, religious, racial, regional, class
and political identification keep us pitted
against each other. The
deep-rooted orientation
toward objectification
of the experience of
life keeps us insecure,
anxious, combative and
insatiable in our quest
for personal
and group
significance
and dominance.
Humanity
seems blind to
the limitations of the model for
psychological and social identity we
embrace.
We stumble forward hoping all
will be well if we just keep doing
more of the same. More for me and mine.
More for me and mine. It is “a tale told by
an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.” Except that it signifies something
huge, increasing individual psychological
insecurity and a collective social and economic
structure headed for catastrophe.
Is that it? Is that the sad end to the
story of humanity and this most beautiful
of planets, choked to death by increasingly
competitive overpopulation, destruction
of the environment and exhaustion
of resources? Are we lemmings doomed
to topple over the precipice by the everincreasing
pressures of those pushing
forward unable to see the precipice until
they are tumbling off?
It does not have to be. What is this
“ineluctable growth on our horizon of
a true state of ‘ultra-humanity’” that de
Chardin is writing about? It is the fully
ARTFUL LIVING
We see a human tide bearing us upward with all the force
of a contracting star; not spreading like a tide, as we
might suppose, but one that is rising: the ineluctable
growth on our horizon of a true state of ‘ultra-humanity’.
- Teilhard de Chardin
bringing into play that which makes
humans unique: self-aware consciousness.
It is the fulfillment of the
Universe’s destiny through this dangerous
and seemingly oh-so-outof-place
creature called humanity.
It is the realization of what de
Chardin called “the Omega point”,
the ultimate awakening of humanity out of
its long slumber of small self-absorption
into full consciousness, seeing its place in
the Universe, experiencing its consciousness
as one with the Universe. While de
Chardin takes this to dimensions beyond
corporality and fulfills Christian theology,
it can be more modestly and practically
seen as humanity “awakening” in a more
Buddhist sense and becoming an enlightened
species creating an enlightened society
in harmony on our home, this Earth,
in this galaxy, in this universe.
How will this happen? It will happen
one individual at a time experiencing
themselves at their personal end with a
too limited model of consciousness and
liberating themselves. It will be you and
me personally expanding beyond the small
mindedness that has imprisoned individuals
in anxiety-filled lives, and created a
fearful, combative, materialistic society
that drives us all into varying levels of craziness
and pushes the entire planet toward
suicidal insanity.
This process of awakening is what
I call the Omega journey in honor of de
Padma: Living and Painting Her Own Way
Though appreciative of what she
learned there, Padma struggled with the
emphasis on representative realism. She
understands everyone sees and interprets
the world differently, and therefore each
artist has his or her own voice. She believes
strongly in trusting her voice, and
in using it in the world.
Inspired by artists such as Jackson
Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler, and
embracing the spontaneity, immediacy
and rebelliousness pioneered in the abstract
expressionist movement (a post–
World War II art movement), Padma’s
paintings are characterized by explosive
color and a lively, distinctive personality.
Pamda’s work reflects the flow and
inquisitiveness of her creative process,
which may involve flipping a canvas several
times as she paints. “I work in layers,”
she says, and will “rework a surface until I
make sense of it.” She also “loves
splashes of color that stand out
on their own.” For Padma, each
piece is “about whatever entity
comes out” as she works.
Padma’s experiences and
emotions inspire many of her
works, but she also enjoys doing
live paintings with concerts. She
will set up her easel and paint to
the band’s music as they play,
translating the sounds and emotions
within the music into shapes and colors.
These paintings are a great deal of
fun and demonstrate her enthusiasm
for being completely immersed in the
creative flow as she paints.
Her paintings will be on display at
Salsa’s in downtown Asheville beginning
May 1. In addition to her paintings,
Padma sells watercolor greeting cards
Padma
Chardin’s vision. It is individuals in
realization that the models of consciousness
we have inherited are the cause of our
individual and collective insecurity shaking
off our slumber to actually become conscious
in our lives. It is one individual at a
time realizing the potential of true human
consciousness, shared by a growing multitude,
until a new form of human society
emerges, experiencing harmony within its
individuals, with each other and the planet.
Are you ready to take your place on
the horizon, on the edge of this human
evolutionary leap that rises upward, not
plummets down? “Ultra-humanity”
awaits. Please know; this is not New-Age
drivel. This is the only destiny that leads
to a quality survival for humanity and the
achievement of our true “being-ness”. Do
you understand? Are you ready?
Bill Walz is a UNCA adjunct faculty member
and a private-practice teacher of mindfulness,
personal growth and consciousness.
He holds a weekly meditation class,
Mondays, 7 p.m. at the Friends Meeting
House, 227 Edgewood.
He will be leading beach retreats next to
Hunting Island, SC on May 22-25 & 25-28
(contact www.barefootretreats.com). Info
on classes, events, personal growth and
healing instruction, or phone consultations
at (828) 258-3241, or e-mail at healing@
billwalz.com. Visit www.billwalz.com
by Caitlin Wood
at Pura Vida, 39-B Biltmore
Ave. (828) 271-6997.
Her cards are colorful and
contemplative; they are like
miniature visual poems.
Each is accompanied by a
title that assists the viewer
to glimpse the subtle yet
profound concept that the
image illustrates.
If you go
To see Padma’s work, visit:
Salsa’s – 6 Patton Ave., Asheville,
May 1 - June 30, (828) 252-9805
Pura Vida – 39-B Biltmore Ave.,
Asheville, (828) 271-6997
True Blue – 30 Haywood St., Asheville,
(828) 251-0028
Vol. 11, No. 9 — Rapid River ArtS & CULTURE Magazine — May 2008 31