---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, s3raphita@... wrote :
Learn 'the look'
This is why I've been attracted to the tradition of Zen portraiture - Zen
masters aren't shown as having some special spiritual look but are instead
shown as angry, disgruntled, idiotic, enjoying a joke, or bored. That is:
they're pictured simply being themselves - which is what they *are*!
Perhaps one of the original forms of caricature. This is done with great
mastery. These brush paintings are a great example in art of doing less and
portraying more.
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, anartaxius@... wrote :
I found this on the Internet, as are most things discussed on FFL. As FFL is
not direct contact with others, point four below probably has the most
relevance.
1. Learn 'the look'. The look is the face and actions of a guy (or chick!)
totally at peace, and at one with the universe. First, the face. Look at
yourself in the mirror. What do you see? You see a guy (or a gal!) with worry
lines and muscles pulled into the mask that people think of as 'you'. The
enlightened master is relaxed and at ease, and his serene look shows it! Let
your facial muscles go slack. Don't let your jaw drop open, but your lips
should just barely touch each other. Your eyelids should be drooping, so that
they are just touching the top of your pupils, and you should have just a hint
of a 'Mona Lisa' smile. Get just the slightest hint of a smirk, like you *know*
Victoria's secret! Not too much, though, or you'll ruin the effect. Practice
this in the mirror every day until you can do it by feel.
2. Walk the walk. This is part two of 'the look', and is just as important.
Chicks should get the feeling that you are relaxed, yet powerful, ready to
spring into action, like a panther. First of all, SLOW DOWN! If you are at one
with the universe, who are you hurrying to meet? Yourself! And you won't be
disappointed if YOU turn up a little late, will you? Walk slowly and
deliberately, letting your arms swing free. It takes a while to get the rhythm,
but it is not as hard as getting the face right. Practice is the key. It's not
you walking, it's God walking through you, baby!
3. Meeting people's eye. This might be the hardest part -- you have to be able
to look directly at people, yet look through them at the same time. What do you
usually do when you come across someone on the street or in the office? If you
know them, you might look them in the eye and say 'hi', but if you don't, you
look away. NUH UH. That won't fly. The enlightened master can look directly
into the eyes of a stranger, because he is looking at himself! Of course, you
won't be able to actually look into your own eyes unless you have had the 'big
flash', so try this instead: look directly through people at things behind
them, but not too far to the side. Look at the tree for a few seconds, the car
for a few seconds, the sidewalk, that bird, whatever. You will look like you
are looking directly into their soul if that is what they want to think (and
believe me, the babes want exactly that!) and they will think you are looking
at things behind that if they are uncomfortable thinking otherwise. This takes
practice.
4. Conversation. It is not as hard as you might think. Just think, 'What would
the Buddha/Jesus/Mohammed/Maharishi say?' Say you are at a party, and you have
'the face' and 'the walk' and you are sitting, relaxed, drinking a beer and
talking to a babe. She asks you what you do for a living. Your response? 'I
teach people how to live. That sounded weird... you know, some people just
aren't comfortable in the world, and I help them out. I guess I'll never have
you for a client. You look like you are extremely together, Denise. Oh, it's
Carla? Well believe me, in another life it was Denise, and she was really
together too.' See how easy it is? Babes want to be spiritual, and they want
you to notice.
