Perception has No Rules

"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly" - Dalai Lama

Traditionally, His Holiness is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. However, some people are so enlightened that there are no rules. They transcend the conventions of reality, or our perception of reality.

Dr. Oliver Sacks, a British neurologists, wrote a short narrative study, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." It tells of Dr. P's story, a talented musician that progressively loses his ability to recognize faces and make certain visual associations, but instead uses sound and music to function through everyday tasks. For instance, he would recognize people by their voices but could not physically see them. He only saw pieces... a nose, ear, etc but could not mentally construct them as a face, nor recognize his own for that matter. When viewing some of Dr. P's artwork, Sacks realizes the progression from a naturalistic style to cubism and abstraction over time. Many would see this as a natural development in an artist. A development in which the artist expands their knowledge and skills, referring to the quote that now they understand shape and form to such and extent that they can break it. Yet, Dr. P is different. He actually views the world in a cubist and abstract way. There is no higher thinking to it. He simply sees shapes that the rest of us do not because of our automatic ability to associate and group things of understanding so the brain does not get overwhelmed with sensory information.

So the Dalai Lama may be bestowed with heightened knowledge of the world, but it does not apply everywhere. This is also why children and mental patients are able to create works of art worth notice and appreciation as well. As opposed to the studier as the Dalai Lama refers to, this category of artists simply hold a different perception of the world, and one they act on impulsively. The child does not go in with paint with the intention of living up to Rembrandt and Picasso. He just 'does.' And with that said, it makes you wonder if famous cubist and abstract artists, like Picasso, were indeed avid studiers or more simply mentally altered or 'ill' later in life.