Turn Toward the Beautiful

The play of sunlight through leaves … the songs of the wind … the arc of a brush stroke on paper. To be awake, reflects Jack Kornfield, is to discover the beauty hidden in all things—and to express that beauty ourselves.
With Turn Toward the Beautiful, this lyrical writer and teacher inspires us to reclaim our childlike wonder, attuning ourselves to the beauty that often passes us by unnoticed. Then, through insightful verses and stories from many traditions, he invites each of us to nourish the artistic impulse in ourselves—to choose to create as an essential expression of the spiritual life. In two compelling sessions, you will explore:
• Why beauty and awareness are inseparable, and how they enrich each other
• Rediscovering the world through our "child's eyes"
• Presence—an essential component for awakening the artist's gifts of receptivity and wonder
• How to use writing, drawing, music, dance, and more to bring insight to others
• Practices to spark our own creative expression

What if the light that reveals the truth of our lives were waiting right here before us? For seasoned artists or novices of all spiritual traditions, Turn Toward the Beautiful points to that illumination—the beauty of the world that beckons to be received and shared.

Session I: Turn Toward the Beautiful
• Track 1: Introduction
• Track 2: The retrieval of beauty
• Track 3: A life of wakefulness
• Track 4: The Lion's Roar
• Track 5: Becoming a child of spirit

Session II: Creativity as a Path of Liberation
• Track 1: Introduction
• Track 2: Poetry and Buddhism
• Track 3: Poems as expressions of liberation
• Track 4: Making the sacred visible
• Track 5: Practice: Two Questions
• Track 6: Creativity as an expression of dharma

Course objectives:
• Express story and poetry as offerings of art and beauty—awakening our hearts to move from a small sense of self to receive the world with compassion, understanding and presence.
• Utilize creativity as an expression of liberation—making the sacred visible.
• Recognize how creativity may become shut down, and how to open the gateway of creativity to become more free, present and alive.
• Practice and express your deep understanding of the Dharma through a myriad of creative possibilities.