The Alpha Seer understanding true art

August 3, 2012

THE HOLY GRAIL OF ART: A PERFECT COMPOSITION, TIMELESS GEM

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 5:55 am


FIGURE 1: AFRICA SERIES 888

FIGURE 2: AFRICA SERIES 889

Knox knox@nyc.rr.com
10:50 PM (6 hours ago)

to me
MAJOR ART !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KNOX

The great master Knox Martin always speaks out whenever the composition really does it’s job,– and doing it well enough! Here we have a classic example of exactly when a composition first comes into being as composition,–or, to be more precise, at what point something raw and non-specific can be finally realized as a complete composition. When it is a full composition, the great Knox Martin always concurs in delightful approval and applause. He concurs not simply because he likes what he sees, or is emotionally attached to the picture, or gets tickled by the theme therein, but because Knox Martin, true to his honorable, truthful nature, must obligingly put his stamp of approval down in the recognition of a perfect composition,–a timeless diamond without flaw.

Once again, we can see that by removing the spoiler black in Figure 1, one has given it the LIFE of a composition since only at this exact point that a true composition first comes into being.

One must look at art in terms of the Qi Reality. By taking out the black in Figure 1, Qi is allowed free flow in the composition. In addition to the free flow, there is also the consideration of the Reality of Calligraphic Relationship, which stipulates that this spot of black has nothing whatsoever to do with the black body at large. In other words, this little stinker of a black spot has not been able to establish a real Calligraphic Relationship here. When something like that happens, the black becomes a stand-out black, an isolated dot, an ugly cul-de-sac, or a dangling appendix, and as such, it has become the spoiler of the party, a party in a mode of joyous celebration,– of the breath-taking Yin and Yang relationship within the composition!

Essentially there is nothing seriously wrong with a bit of spoiler here and there if the attempt at composition is serious enough–but if one wants to go for the Holy Grail,–i.e. by definition of its birthright, a composition should be nothing else but one THAT HAS COME INTO BEING, one that HAS TAKEN ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN,– hence there must be serious examinations, inspections, watchfulness,– and last,– but not least, agreements between at least two Alpha Seers.

Even the great ingenious Knox Martin himself must examine and inspect his own work for a long time,– sometime by his own admission, for as long as 6 months.

The Calligraphic Relationship Reality cannot be fully understood except by a major artistic genius, i.e. an Alpha Seer. For that reason, this author won’t even bother to explain what it means, or what it is. Ahh, the Calligraphic Reality,–the Holy Grail of Art! Even though you may not fully understand what it is, yet let me assure you that it is the exact same element that had caused Matisse into making this famous, timeless statement:

“Art cannot be taught!”

If a student of art has failed to examine a Matisse, or understand fully the inner workings of the Yin and Yang interactions in a great master’s composition, one has not known art at all. But can one be a serious student of art with so much distractions going on in modern day life? And with such enormous sensational stuffs going on all around, who would even bother to ask and answer this simple question: What is art? So in the final analysis, unless you truly understand the Holy Grail of art, i.e. the Reality of Calligraphic Relationship, art can never, in a million years, be of such deep interest in your life. For that reason, understanding, asking, and finally answering the simple question, “What is Art?” is next to impossible for the lay people,–the general public!

When the great Knox Martin declares ‘major art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’, he essentially takes that to mean ‘true art!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’. When a composition is true art, a living composition, then there is no longer the question of major or minor, neither is there the question of big or small. In other words, duality no longer exist!

So once again we can see that art fits perfectly in the Dharma of the Buddha of Gautama.

The great master Knox Martin is the Emperor in Art! His reign in Art will be everlasting!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the great master’s website: www.knoxmartin.com If you think you are a young artistic genius, that is a must visit site.

June 24, 2012

Professor Leander S. Hughes on Master Ben Lau

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 3:52 pm

PROFESSOR LEANDER S. HUGHES

ON THE ALPHASEER

More than a decade has passed since I first met Ben Lau, but I remember the occasion well. I was a student at the Rudy and Lola Perpich Center for Arts Education, and Ben was a special guest at our school, invited to present before our entire student body. Things got off to a rocky start when Ben put a black and white copy of a Cezanne and one of a Pissarro side by side on the overhead and asked the audience which was a better composition. Ben never had a chance to move forward from this initial question, as students around me jumped up in protest: “How can you say one work of art is better than another?!” one student shouted, “It’s just your opinion!” Soon the hall was consumed in chaos with students interrupting Ben, talking over each other in their self-righteous tirade against this apparent act of artistic discrimination. For all of their talk about equality and mutual understanding, my classmates showed themselves to be thoroughly bigoted in their refusal to even allow Ben to explain himself. So, the first time I ever spoke to Ben was when I went up to him that day to apologize for the rude treatment he had received and to tell him that I would have liked to hear what he had to say. A year later, Ben came back to our school offering to be a mentor to anyone interested. I applied straight away, and Ben has been a mentor and good friend to me ever since.

There was no sudden enlightenment studying under Ben. I was a very skeptical student in the beginning. I did not see the beauty in his work. In fact, I did not see beauty in anyone’s work, including my own. Sometimes I liked a painting because it got me fantasizing or philosophizing about this or that, but my ability to take pleasure in something at a purely visual level was close to nil. Gradually though, over countless Saturday afternoons spent with Ben looking at the paintings in his many art books- engaging with Titian, Hals, Matisse, Van Eyck, Hokusai, and Knox Martin to name just a few- I began to feel something in those works: the way the dark and light embraced and intertwined, the energy and certainty of the brush strokes. Slowly, I began to taste, if ever so slightly, the dynamism and vitality of those great compositions, and in time, my appreciation went deeper- to a level which may well be impossible to explain: when a painter takes something essential to the human experience and reinvents it in the two-dimensional space of a canvas, letting the power of that thing guide each line and tap out the rhythmic dance of dark and light, then that painting becomes a thing onto itself- a small universe into which we can step and exist indefinitely, if we wish, simply by giving it our full attention. If this isn’t Beauty with a capital “B,” then it is at least one very important kind of beauty- one that has added immeasurable richness to my life and one that is clearly present in some paintings more than others.

Ben has a website at www.thealphaseer.com upon which he refers to himself as the Alphaseer- I laughed when I first read this self-bestowed title, but the title is not a product of an enflamed ego: Rather it is an honest appraisal of Ben’s own ability. Ben could see Beauty (yes, I think it deserves a capital “B”), whereas my art school classmates and I could not. Now thanks to Ben’s mentorship, I too can catch a glimpse into Beauty’s secret chambers, and for this I am truly grateful, but Ben remains light-years ahead of me- he can actually CREATE Beauty consistently with every new work he produces. Thus, I think “Alphaseer” may actually be a shade too modest- Ben, to me, is the Alphacreator: he creates Beauty on a daily basis and that Beauty is a gift to everyone willing to take the time to really see it. If I had the money to be Ben’s patron, I would buy up all of his work in an instant- not because doing so would be a wise investment (as it surely would be), but just so I could surround myself in the timelessness of his art. For now though, I can only offer this humble endorsement along with my heartfelt thanks to Ben and my hope that, in some small way, I may help bring to him the wider recognition he so deeply deserves.

Professor Leander s. Hughes is currently teaching at Saitama University, Japan.

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Lee,

That was a beautiful statement, Lee, thank you for writing with such
heartfelt honesty. It’s always good to hear about my dad’s work from
someone else. Growing up in a household where I’m constantly
surrounded by these works and where the Alphacreator is also my dad
(you know how that is), I often take for granted my seemingly
effortless ability to discern Beauty from non-beauty – but I realize
time and again it is only because my dad raised me this way, so that
seeing art is like a native language.

I hope this can be published some day.

Love,
Isabella

Isabella is the daughter of Ben Lau, a.k.a. the Alpha Seer

Karen Monson

to me

show details Dec 6 (2 days ago)

This is so Beautiful and so true, Ben.  I remember the first time I met you … and that day very well.  Thank you for sharing this.  Karen

Karen M. is the lady who, in Leander Hughes’ youth had brought about the meeting of the latter and the Alpha Seer.

June 13, 2012

LEARNING COMPOSITION THROUGH COMPARISON

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 5:54 am

Many young people here have the fine quality of being artists but they have not understood the specific language of art, and so the great masterpieces in the world are forever denied them, even though partial understanding in those work may still be enjoyment… . For that reason, the Alpha Seer decides to bring on the proper understanding through comparing his two recent work here. Learning through comparison is the surest thing to do! Do not listen to, or believe in any of those academic theories or sentimental narratives, as art has absolutely nothing to do with such silliness.

718 in Figure 2 is the complete composition. 715 in Figure 1 can only be called incomplete. 715 is nothing more than a sketchy piece of work at best, with which the artist probes his best approach in his attempt for completion. Of the countless number of compositions in the world, only the complete ones may be called true masterpieces,– perfect as well as timeless, harmonious compositions that do not fail to soothe the soul! After all, that is the name of this game we call art,– and its content as well.
Inside every major museum in this country, there may be a hundred thousand incomplete work but there are only a handful of complete, or perfect compositions. I am just being polite here when I say so. At earlier times, I have called those work mediocre, and their authors, by the unflattering names of  “impostors.”  There is nothing wrong to call things or peoples by their correct names,–for the sake of clarity,  but that has offended a lot of people. So overtime the Alpha Seer has become more diplomatic, and politely call them incomplete jobs. Sometime he simply keeps his mouth shut in most situations. The great master Knox Martin’s work are the most reliable in any given period of time because every composition by him is a masterpiece! That is the Alpha Seer’s understanding,–and to the best of knowledge. There are only a handful of such high profile super-creators in the history of art. To name just a few in the paintings of the West, they are Van Eycke, Titian, Adrienne Brouwver, Franz Hals,  Cezanne, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Zurbaran, Claude Lorraine, Matisse and Picasso. They are the best super-creators to study from if you are really serious about understanding art.
In the 718 version below, the black and the white entwine each other thoroughly, and each of their respective parts, once allowed to re-group,–i.e. to be taken in at one glance, form a single complete entity. Nothing should be left dangling in a perfect composition. In 715, the intertwining of the black and white has failed to create harmony, so one can detect two major white bubbles, one on the lower left and the other, a round one, on the upper right. Those bubbles are eye-sores in the composition.They do not stand up to the scrutiny of good calligraphy,–hence good taste is impossible. For that reason, 715 cannot be called a complete composition.
Now are you prepared to argue that understanding art cannot be so utterly simple? Yet believe me,– even with the mind  well-equipped with such fabulous criteria, people are still uncertain, very much so, as to what to look for in a complete composition. In that sense, I am not sure if art is such an easy nut to crack anymore! That is why I have often maintained that art is the playing field of the artistic geniuses.
FIGURE 1: AFRICA SERIES 715
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FIGURE 2: AFRICA SERIES 718
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Knox knox@nyc.rr.com
Jun 10
to me
WOW         !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the great master Knox Martin’s commenting on 718 (Figure 2)
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In addition to the deficiency in calligraphic excellence in the 715 composition, there is something dangling by one of the wings of the bird on the upper right. Anytime something is left dangling in a composition, the entire field of interaction becomes very unsettling. Nothing unsettling should be detected in a perfect composition. Take a Mozart composition, or a Beethoven one, for example,–you cannot detect any unsettling thing anywhere,–their music is perfect and timeless.
The strong arm of the beast in 718 has corrected that embarrassing mistake.That same arm follows the curvature of a circle. There are other great circles everywhere if you are attentive. Why circle? Circles offer the strongest curvatures. Good calligraphy is made up of strong curves and uncompromising straights.

April 6, 2012

General Lau of the 63rd Army

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 6:26 pm

Figure 1: Lovers Series 46991   by the Alpha Seer

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第六十三军军长刘栋材

刘栋材，字道中，广西桂平人，生于1898年。刘 栋材毕业于黄埔军校长沙分校步科，作为广西人的他在军校毕业之后选择的是在粤军服务。资历尚浅的刘栋材，起初在部队中并没有明显的派系之分，即便是在派系 林立的粤系军队中，他也是随波逐流的跟着部队跑，一直到了余汉谋掌权时，刘栋材才正式投入了余的麾下，并得到了发展。

还是团附的刘栋材参加 过南京保卫战，他所在的团队和日军打的所剩无几。就在刘栋材准备殉国的时候，部队接到了突围的命令。根据命令，刘栋材所在的160师得从日军正面突围。要 完成这个突围任务，就必须以一部对日军发起佯攻，以吸引日军主力的注意，这样才能使160师的主力乘机突围出去。明眼人一看就知道，这个任务就是个自杀性 任务。人家避之不及，刘栋材到是主动站出来承担这个任务。在他的指挥下，一个营的英雄向日军发起了有去无回攻击，成功的掩护了大部队的突围。或许是老天对 于刘栋材的英勇行为所感动，刘栋材竟然奇迹般的在完成任务后归了队，于是他被提拔为上校团长了。

桂南会战的时候，作为第160师少将步兵指 挥官的刘栋材奉命随部向甘棠方向的迂回日军发起进攻。根据刘栋材的战地侦察，他主张部队应该从左侧袭击迂回的日军，在控制日军的后路后，利用地形一举突入 日军指挥部和炮兵阵地，随后与据守山口的友军合力夹击，可挫败日军的攻势。遗憾的是这一主张没能被66军军长陈骥采纳。结果由于陈骥的由于不决，66军反 遭迂回日军的重创。事后陈骥被撤职，66军番号也被撤消，刘栋材却因为提出了合理的作战策略，被提拔为157师副师长，后来又以战功先后担任157师师长 和158师师长。

抗战胜利时，158师被裁编，这使刘栋材一度失业。好在有余汉谋的照顾，刘栋材被保送到陆军大学将官班乙级第三期深造，毕 业后派任第62军副军长兼罗云师管区司令。这一职务使他一直在广东，避开了62军在天津覆灭的厄运。同时，也因为他是师管区司令，手中有大量的新兵，这就 给他成为了在徐蚌战场覆灭后重建的63军军长创造了条件。

刘栋材虽然当上了军长，但他对于党国的前途已经不抱希望。甚至在当上军长同时，他 第一件做的事就是把家眷安置到香港，对于部队的训练事宜全部交给了副手和两个师长来分别负责。到了解放军攻入广东时，刘栋材的63军被安排为二线兵团，在 德庆、高要地区集结。这使得63军在解放军的初期攻势中没有遭到损失。然而当63军应该派上用场的时候，刘栋材却带着63军一路南撤，放弃了德庆、高要， 在退无可退的情况下，才在云浮和解放军交了次手，但却马上带着主力跑到了钦州。

在钦州，刘栋材奉命率部撤往海南崖县。但是刘栋材在这个时候选择了离队，他在将部队交给了副军长郭永镳后，带着几名亲信去了香港，就此脱离是非之地以避开内战。1977年8月，刘栋材在香港因病去世。

Lau Tung Choi ( Lau: family name of the Han Dynasty, Tung Choi together means Supportive Pillar Materials for a Great Building.), aka Dol Chung (the two words together means: Taking the Middle Way.) was born in 1898. Lau graduated from Hwang Po Military Academy at Cheung Sha. His major of study was in Infantry. At the beginning of his career, as a Kwang Si Province resident hoping to serve in the Cantonese military blocs after his graduation, he had not provided himself with a clear enough identity as to what faction he would eventually belong to. Even though he would be serving in the extremely factionalized Cantonese military bloc, he was just moving along with the trend, without pledging allegiance to any power house in particular. This would continue until the reign of  the 5 starred General Yu Han Mou, to whom Lau had officially pledged his loyalty, thereby gaining the former’s trust and support, giving the younger warrior an opportunity to rise in the army.
When he was still a Lieutenant Colonel, Lau Tung Choi took part in the famous Battle for the Protection of Nan Jing. Nan Jing was the capital of the Kuomintang regime at that time. In this major battle, the fighting unit where Lau belonged had been largely decimated in number by the considerably better equipped Japanese army. As Lau was prepared for his last stand, his combat unit suddenly received an order to break out from the horrific Japanese Siege which the 169th Division was subject to. According to the new plan, Lau’s fighting brigade within the 160th Division was given the impossible task of confronting the Japanese troops and stirring up trouble for them. To accomplish this, an elite group would have to feign frontal attack on the enemy formation in order to engage and divide their attentions. Such a disruption would enable the main body of the 160th Division to break out, and eventually escape successfully. Anyone familiar with military strategy would immediately sense the doom implied therein: it was a mission impossible,–a suicidal task at best. For that reason, everyone in his unit became very quiet and tried their best to avoid being drafted for the task. Lau, however, stood up solemnly and declared his willingness for the task! Under his command, a heroic squadron would pursue their mission of no return by attacking the Japanese troops aiming at providing cover for the main body of the 160th Division in their escape attempt. Miraculously, not only had the division successfully broken out of the siege, Lau was also able to survive the extreme dangers of the insurgence. He finally managed to re-group with his division and report to his superiors. Lau was promoted to be a full Colonel for his bravery and the success of his actions in the siege breaking.
During the massive Campaign of Southern Kwei, Lau Tung Choi, a Brigadier General commanding the infantry of the 160th Division, received the order to engage the snaking pattern of the Japanese movements at Kim Tong. After studious observation of the local terrains, Lau had come up with a plan of ambushing the left flank of the enemy formation. He also suggested that the exit of the would-be retreating enemies should be heavily guarded, thereby cutting off the escape route of the Japanese. Finally, an assault on the Japanese command post as well as their nearby artillery installations should be launched after all the aforesaid preparations were in place. Since the escape route of the Japanese had been cut off, the Japanese army would find itself sandwiched in the mountains and a major blow could be dealt them when they were thus cornered. Unfortunately, the plan was aborted by the commander of the Sixty-sixth Army, Chan Kei. Because of Chan’s further indiscretions, the Sixty-sixth Army became severely beaten by the Japanese snaking assault. After that battle, Chan Kei was dismissed, even the army number of 66 was dismantled. On the other hand, since Lau Tung Choi had provided a pretty remarkable attack strategy, he was promoted to be the Lieutenant Commander of the 157th Division. Later he would ascend the military rungs to become the commander of the 157th and 158th Division, owing to multiple victories at the battlefields.
After the final victory of the Japanese Resistance War,– at the conclusion of the Second World War,158th Division met the fate of Defense budget cut-back and deletion. Lau had briefly become unemployed. Fortunately for him, his old boss, the 5- starred General Yu Han Mou had come to his rescue and paved the way for him to further his study at the Army’s Military University. He would be studying in class B of Phase 3 Officers’ Class at the Army’s Military University. After his graduation from the university, he was assigned the important post of Lieutenant Commander of the 62th Army, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Lo Wan Military Governing District. That employment had allowed him to escape the brutal annihilation of the 62nd Army in Tientsin. At the same time, because of his ongoing effort in the recruitment for new troops ( In China, it is maintained that “quality iron is not used for making nails, and quality young men are no materials for the military!– so one may imagine how difficult it was to recruit young people with ideals to sacrifice for their country!) Lau was able to rebuild the badly mutilated 63rd Army after the Total Campaign at Tsui Pong. He eventually became the commander of the new 63rd army, rebuilt from scratch by him. At that time, Lau Tung Choi had already grown pessimistic about the future of the Kuomintang regime. Around the time of his inauguration as Commander of the 63rd Army, one of the first things he did was send his family to live in Hong Kong, then a British Colony in China. The task of troop drilling was delegated to his attending associates as well as the two Divisional Commanders in his army. When the People’s Liberation Army entered Canton, Lau’s 63rd Army was assigned to a secondary line of defense, and they were due to join force at Tak Hing and Ko Yiu area. This arrangement had allowed the 63rd Army to escape significant damage at the early stages of onslaughts by the People’s Liberation Armies. Nevertheless, when the 63rd Army was supposed to encounter its Communist counterparts in a show-down battle, Lau Tung Choi led his troop instead in retreat to the south, thus giving up Tak Hing and Ko Yiu. The army had only been involved in some minor skirmishes with the PLA at Wan Fou under strenuous circumstances. Eventually he managed to take the bulk of his force in retreat to Yum Chau. Then Lau received the order to take his troop further to Ngai Yuen, Hai Nan Island. It was at this time that Lau had decided to leave the army for good. After he had passed on the control of his troop to his lieutenants, one Kwok Wing Hung, Lau took a boat to Hong Kong with a small entourage, thus avoiding deeper involvement in the deadly internecine blood feuds of the Civil War of China.
Lau Tung Choi died in Hong Kong in August 1977.
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GENERAL LAU TUNG CHOI IS THE FATHER OF THE ALPHA SEER, AKA BEN LAU

March 5, 2012

The Arithmetic of Life Is Zero

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 4:29 am

Figure 1: The Giggling Nude

by the Alpha Seer

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I could still remember the summer when I first met Knox Martin. It was extremely hot and humid in the Big Apple. I was done with Joe Stapleton, I thought he had nothing further to offer except clinging onto a certain dead concept of partial calligraphic abstraction. Then I had become friend with a young woman at the Art Student League. It was partly through that woman’s induction, but largely because of a gorgeous work by Knox Martin on display outside the ASL, that I was brought into a studio class of the great master.

My first impression about Knox was that, no matter what age he was in, he could be characterized as an ungrown!

All the true masters have it,–the aspect of agelessness in the person.

But little had I realized at that point that I was destined to meet the greatest teacher in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I was much more vulnerable than I am now,–that’s why I had not passed the golden opportunity by.

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Most of you here, art teacher, professor, doctor, celebrity, billionaire, artist, scientist, housewife, or school bus driver, are clinging onto the past, unwilling to part with nothingness,….that is why even when the Dharma of Painting, or the Dharma of Life (as expounded by the 6th patriarch, or Krishnamurti, as well as Osho,) was brought right under your nose, little have you even been aware of it!

Art teacher, professor, doctor, celebrity, billionaire, artist, scientist, housewife, or school bus driver are images. They are the episodes, or the scenarios, where you have found yourself in,– in the larger dream picture of life. There is no reality to it. When you are not aware of it, those scenarios will become you!

When that happens, ahh,…what a nightmare!

Sorry, but that unfortunately is the case! Have you got even a glimpse of delight when after you have merrily settled in any of those roles?

I thought I would be happier if I had come into money, made a name for myself in the world, become a doctor, become a professor, become a scientist, or become an artist, …., but was I really ?

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Remember: all will come to naught: it shouldn’t take another 30 years to realize that simple arithmetic!

There is more to lose in keeping what you have already lost!

Zero is the arithmetic of Life!

February 25, 2012

PEARLS OF WISDOM FROM THE 6TH PATRIARCH OF THE DHARMA

Filed under: Uncategorized,Weekly True Art Quiz — MASTER BEN LAU @ 1:10 pm
Ben Lau

On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 12:47 PM, Ben Lau <alphaseer@gmail.com> wrote:

The word ” Zazen”, like everything else in our times, has been badly misunderstood. Folks often have a picture of some monks in Japan sitting in a hall doing nothing but chanting all day long, or otherwise listening to a higher- ranked guy unwind his ego-trip. The truth is, most of such practitioners,– if not all, are pretty dumb,– idiotic lambs being led to the slaughter, if that is a direct way of putting it…!

So let’s hear straight from the great master Huineng, the Founder of Zen, a.k.a. the 6th Patriarch of the Dharma. With regard to my translation ( from Chinese to English), my concern is that it may not be as expertly as I had wanted it to be,– thereby creating even more misunderstandings for the readers. So please use your own discretion, folks, when trying to understand anything!

The great master Huineng, a.k.a. the 6th Patriarch of the Dharma:

Zazen is just a state of mind!

He also said that In the Dharma of “No Duality”, if there is ever achieved in one the correct state of no obstruction, such that outwardly no reaction arises upon the scenarios of good or evil, or that the being is as anchored as ever throughout the episode, –then such a state of mind is called Zazen.

What is Zen-anchored?

It is actually the same state of mind viewed from a different angle: Outwardly one has achieved a state of no attachment to all scenarios, thereby retaking the State of No Chaos, and gaining Inner peace. Such a state of mind is called Zen-anchored.
If outwardly one is attached to the scenarios, chaos is a certainty. Chaos occurs where thinking is attached to the scenarios. (To help understand this better, the Alpha Seer must interject this: even our own life can be called  “scenario”,– or a state of the Dream… . Huineng is not the first one to call life a scenario or a dream, neither was the Gautama Buddha… . (In fact, thousands of great sages before them had expressed somewhat similar view, that life is but a scenario, an episode, or a dream,–to emphasize the unreal nature of it all! Even the Chinese Sage Zhuang-tsu, someone coming from a completely different background than either of them, had composed a poem in which he said he was unsure whether he had one day dreamed of being a butterfly, or just the other way round, i.e. that the butterfly had dreamed of being Zhuang-tsu!)  And finally,  what does it mean to “attach ones thought to a scenario?” That can be illustrated by the examples of a billionaire attached to his billions,–a former celebrity to her golden years in her past, or some professor attached to his previous learning or training, etc. …)

According to the Sutra of the Bodhisattva Abstinence: The Inner Being is pure, perfect, beautiful and unpolluted in and of itself.

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Look inward then, from one thought to the next,– in a continuum of thoughts,– one is eventually able to see the Inner Being.

There is no other way of coming into contact with reality.

Gods or demons are just fabrications of wishful thinking… .

That is why they are called the wrong views by Huineng or Buddha alike, views that will lead to chaos.

—
THE ALPHA SEER

February 11, 2012

What is love? What is it in relation to Beauty?

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 8:21 am
“HAPPY VALENTINE?” Ha, ha, ha, ….

The Alpha Seer cannot help laughing out loud each time someone says stupid thing like that,… .

Awareness=Love= Beauty

Like Beauty, Love is not what you can have nor something that you can give away :)) !!!!

Love is an energy, most likely some sort of radiation, derived from gratitude or admiration.
When one is fully aware, the energy is intensified to the point that others can also feel it.

To give an example: an eye contact with a stranger can be a test to show whether you are in full awareness or not. When you are not in awareness, thoughts tend to fill up the space of your being, and the real eye contact fails to exist. Your eye contact is then forced, faked, thereby becoming totally undignified… . You just want to look polite, or caring, or even concerned,… Now if you are in the middle of an inner turmoil, you might even want to avoid the eye contact altogether, because you are trying to escape from something yourself. At that moment, you are a total beggar, yet you frantically want to furnish a pretense of royalty. Then the indignity occurs: the eye contact is falsified or a smile is forced upon the stranger, even though inside you are mostly calculating…. , your biases begin to overrun you,– especially when the other is a total stranger.

The thoughts of Fear and Alienation are at hand… .

January 10, 2012

What is Knox Martin talking about?

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 8:00 pm

Knox Martin is a genius of I.Q. 197 (compared  with JFK, former American President, I.Q. 96, and Einstein, with an I.Q. somewhere above 165,– but please don’t quote me on these two, since their numbers may not be exact,– even though I know for a fact that Knox’s number is,–as he had received that assessment from a colleague when teaching at the University of Minnesota…so you may have an idea how smart the man is!)  In order to understand such a man fully, you must cover all the bases and pay extra attention to what exactly the man means in his utterances.

Let’s look at Knox Martin’s extraordinary comment:

Doing art is a piece of cake if you are an artist—–then you don’t have to do art —–it does what passes for one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The statement does not seem to make any sense at all at first glance, but if you put everything in context, the significance of its meaning will gradually emerge.
He is essentially saying that, if you are an artist, art is so easy to you,– like breathing, it can only come natural to you!
I am sure everyone here understands that part!
The problem is with the word “artist”.
The great master Knox Martin once said an artist is a sacred being,–one who is born into natural nobility. So when he uses the word artist, I notice immediately that there is no ambiguity to what exactly he means.
Our problem is, we have heard from a million other folks in the world proclaiming themselves as artists. But are they really ? In the past era spanning 150 years, we can only boast a handful of noble souls in the Western Hemisphere who can deservedly be called artists, such as Ingres, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Seurat, deKooning, Van Gogh, Gorky, Goya, and of course, the greatest of them all, Knox Martin! How come there are a million folks in our lifetime alone, all proclaiming themselves as artists? It doesn’t add up, does it? So it is only fair to say that those who had so proclaimed themselves are in fact, non -artists trying to pretend, or impose, as artists,– in other words, they are impostors!!!!!!!!
With the word “artist” now better defined, it is quite possible to understand why Knox has made that extraordinary statement.
“Then you don’t have to do art, it does what passes for one.”
By that he means art will seek its own doing. No effort is even required of the artist to do art at all.
It also means that you’d better make sure that what you are doing is art, before you can legitimately call yourself an artist!
Tough guy, this Knox Martin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now read the Alpha Seer’s explanation of what a composition in art means:
“And what is a complete composition?
It is the simplest of things!!!!!!! It is simply the interaction of Yin and Yang in a field of activities in this manner as follows:
. Unity and oneness must be there (one black and one white only,–not one black with multi-whites, or multi-blacks with multi- whites, like a political map of 19th C Africa!!!)
. Balance.
. Easy flow of the Qi ( the movement of the formal relations is not hindered at any point!)

It is easy to say, but pretty hard to work out, since all 3 conditions must be met simultaneously! That is why art is the playing field of the geniuses!

So how do we gauge “greatness?” Again, it is the simplest of things: just count the number of his complete compositions in the life time of the artist.

Let’s examine the works of the following people who had called themselves “artists:”
Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Richter Gerhard, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella,…. Oh, the list  will go on,– it is unendless:

Based on the above definition of a complete composition, their works show that they cannot be called artists because their respective number of  art completion is zero.

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Figure 1: Flowers with a Face, by  Ben Lau, a.k.a the Alpha Seer
Figure 2: Yin and Yang series 4510 by Ben Lau a.k.a.the Alpha Seer
Figure 3:  Moonless Night series 4679 by Ben Lau, a.k.a the Alpha Seer
Figure 4: Woman with Cat 4680 by Ben Lau, a.k.a.the Alpha Seer

October 10, 2011

AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 12:55 am

Figure 1: Leonora   by the great master Knox MartinFigure 2: woman Interested  by the great master Knox MartinFigure 3: Star Flower by the great master Knox MartinFigure 4: Maryellen by the great master Knox Martin

Most of Knox Martin’s paintings have a single title: Woman. WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN? It tells us immediately that the predominant subject matter of Knox Martin is “Woman.” Like Titian or Ingres, there are NO other contents, emotive, narrative, spiritual, philosophical or otherwise outside of the pure metaphorical images created by Knox Martin,– of women!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Knox Martin has often insisted that the subject matter of ART is ART itself. In other words, he has in effect created an equivalent sign between “Woman” and ART in his work! Make no mistake: his subject matter is “Woman”, which is also ART as well,–as “Woman” has already taken root in his art and has taken over completely as a code name for ART!

It is very clear from this oft adopted title of “Woman” that his art solidly points to a poetic persuasion VIA the FIGURATIVE,– NOT, as most contemporary art critics claimed, Abstraction! To call his art the examples of Abstract Expressionism is therefore, a wholesale misunderstanding of his art,–or of ART itself for that matter! Anyone who makes that claim truly does not know what he/she is talking about! This must be clarified, since the Alpha Seer is currently about the ONLY person who can fully understand the art, as well as the artistic intent of the magnificent genius of Knox Martin!

The very bedrock of Painting is the creation of visual metaphors. The only aim of composition is to attain universal harmony through the realization of Yin and Yang. That is a noble and timeless principle derived from universal laws, which have driven the creative energies of artistic geniuses from times immemorial! What would Knox Martin gain by denying it, and substituting it with the so-called Abstraction, which is nothing more than the worthless and idle imagination of the mind,– for his artistic expressions? It does not make any sense at all, does it ? By displaying the great work by Knox Martin, the Alpha Seer hopes to establish his peerless status for the future generations.

Clarity must be established at the first instance, right from the starting point. Clarity can only be attained through a correct reading of ART. To say Knox Martin’s work is the examples of Abstract Expressionism can only create further confusions. There is no clarity in the claim of an art illiterate, especially the blind academics or critics who regularly offers snake-oils to the general public, some art addicts who crave those poisons in desperation,– somewhat like a shot of steroid to work up the adrenaline of their addictions. Art addicts are driven by their herd instincts, and they will readily follow anyone who appears to hold the pretension of leadership. since the blind public yearns for someone to lead them, that is the desire that the art academics will cater to. Deception is so easy when a herd desperately desire to be deceived… !

Finally, to claim Knox Martin’s work as belonging to Abstract Expressionism does not do justice for the amazing quality of his genius, since making such a claim one must have failed, from the very beginning, miserably to recognize the singularly magnificent and major contribution of Knox Martin to modern Painting in our lifetime, namely, the REINVENTION OF PAINTING ITSELF
(click on this and drag your mouse across it in order to read the secret message)
—
THE ALPHA SEER

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Knox to me
show details Oct 8 (1 day ago)
DEAREST  BEN
NO ONE HAS BEEN THIS CLEAR ABOUT MY WORK !!! I AM FLABBERGASTED AND MOST APPRECIATIVE.    THANK YOU!    KNOX

September 24, 2011

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ART AND PORN?

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 9:18 am

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ben Lau <alphaseer@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 3:11 AM
Subject: What is the difference between ART and pornography?
To: Ben Lau <alphaseer@gmail.com>



What is the difference between ART and pornography?

That was a question addressed to the Alpha Seer when he was at an art school.

I will give this particular question a clearer definition here once and for all.

Take a subject matter, any subject matter at all,–it will instantly and magically become ART in the hand of a true artist; while in that of the non-artist, anything can be in danger of being turned into a perversion.

Look at the following lino-cut: every single line in this composition streams of fantastic poetry and innocence! Look on, if you cannot agree now. Give it another 10 minutes, even with a cup of tea in your hand! ( never mind the calligraphy, which was used to cover up the track of a small insect,–the Alpha Seer did his calligraphy 20 times better before losing his dexterity of brush painting, a sort of impromptu art-making… )

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There is no evil in sex, just as there is no evil in food. We need both in life. Raise your hand if you disagree,… (on the basis that you are about to raise concerns against sex being used as subject matters, thereby condemning it as “pornographic… .”)

Now, as soon as you start perverting food, evil comes into being! The same can be said of sex. Since the non-artists cannot understand ART, perversion abounds. Mind you, the relationship between ART and Sex is not insignificant! Titian and Rubens painted a lot of nude women because they had loved women. One of the best paintings by Watteau is also called Satyr and Nymph. The great Knox Martin painted mostly nudes in his magnificent career as artist. One of his most erotic drawings even has he himself in it!

Because of the non-artists’ failure in understanding ART, sex has ultimately become, in their hands, a perversion. The line can be drawn then, and the following remark can be said about their “artistic effort” as a result:

Anything that the non-artists lay their hands on, anything, not just those that would involve sex as subject matter, will inevitably and effectively become PORN as a result when the artistic intent is proclaimed !

Ahh, on second thought, the Alpha Seer must go deeper than that,– since the shameful truth is, just about anything the non-artists do can be termed perverse or pornographic, since perversion always exist in whatever they attempt in the name of ART!!!!!

And the reason that ART has been perverted by the non-artists is simply because there exists a counterfeit intention in whatever they have attempted and eventually proclaimed as art. That counterfeit intention is more than obvious in the Ponzi-scheme, for lack of a better description, being run by those folks at present, –a sort of “art” for quick cash scheme,– attached ingloriously to the postmodern world.

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Who are the true artists? The Alpha Seer can offer you a list here,– not exactly a complete one, nor are their names placed in any particular order of greatness:

Beside the greater geniuses in modern time, such as Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Gorky, de Kooning, and Knox Martin, we also have, in the last 800 years or so, the following:

Van Eyck, Giotto, Buoninsegna, Cimabue, Van der Weyden, Memling, Hieronymus Bosch, Fra Angelico, Fabriano, Francesca, Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael,Titian,Tintoretto,Veronese, Brueghel, el Greco, Rubens, Sotatsu, Hokusai, several more Japanese masters and 300 more nameless Egyptian, Chinese, Islamic, and Indian, Hals, Velazquez, de Hooch, Brouwver, Rembrandt, Watteau, Ingres, Degas, Manet, Seurat, Van Gogh, Gris, Dufy, Miro,… Of women artists, the Alpha Seer can name only two at this point, and they are Master Olivia and Master Rosemary.

Whenever something is done with a counterfeit intention, perversion abounds, since the heart of Darkness is EVIL!

Look at the ugly and unsightly works by the following non-artists***:

***The Alpha Seer had refrained from using the accusatory word “impostors!”  These days a fast click on the Google Search machine will get you there.

Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Damien Hirst, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Mark Rothko, Fernando Botero, Francis Bacon, Hans Hofmann, Barnett Newman, Max Beckmann, Emil Nolde, Jackson, Pollock, Clyfford Still, Diego Rivera, Max, Ernst, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, etc. etc.

No, don’t believe me, don’t ever believe what I have just said.

P L E A S E    D O N ‘ T ! ~since believing in someone, or something, without conviction is also a perversion, in and of itself! The current herd instinct is the sickening tendency to believe anyone in the position of apparent authority, such as a professor of Harvard or MIT, your pastor, your mullah, or the Pope,…

Simply do this experiment at home: take up a cup of tea, and relax. Then leisurely examine each and everyone of the above.
Let your intuition inform you.
You can also see it,– with instant understanding,–but that is not a given,– unfortunately.

Figure 1: Satyr and Nymph


THE ALPHA SEER

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