Dick Sutphen is the formerly Sedona-based author of many books including You Were Born to Be Together (from 1976!) and my favorite, Past Life Therapy in Action. He announced his retirement (and a return to painting) in the latest email to his followers. Sutphen left with this beautiful quotation I’d like to share:
Think of your Higher Self as an artist and your lower self as the picture you will paint. Your Higher Self is your karmically created character, and your lower self is your physical body—your traits, habits, and emotions. In each incarnation karma presents you, the artist, with an opportunity to paint your life picture. Do not confuse yourself with your picture. You are already a fully self-actualized, enlightened soul, who has only to project this awareness into your work.
We forget that we are the artists and not the painting, when we allow the painting to become our reality when we could be calling upon our buried talent to change the areas of the picture that are not working. We can erase portions of the picture and start again, painting a new image in bright, joyous colors.
As a life long drummer and musician, I appreciate that editing our own work, knowing what NOT to play, is sometimes the best approach to making art. And I applaud Sutphen’s pro-active approach to this past lives work; the artist’s metaphor depicts that perfectly. The power is with us to take these past life bleed-throughs and triggers, confront them in full consciousness, and experience the transformation that is possible when willing to look into all of our corners, whether light or dark. Sutphen was one of the pioneers in confronting our shadows, and he bravely did it in public and in a group setting! I regret not having the opportunity to train with him but appreciate his contribution to the field of past life explorations.