Kashmir Genocide Jan 19th 1990, Acrylic on Canvas, 36x48 inches

“ Von Durckheim, the zen master...he said you know during the war, people had the most soul searing experiences or else you were in a concentration camp and you saw absolutely no hope of ever getting out alive or he said you were displaced from the town where you worked and you had your occupation, which was erased and you were a person with absolutely no background, no career, no future, nothing and you accepted it. Now in these cases individuals concerned had the most extraordinary experience! They in other words had the cosmic consciousness - Satori. They woke up and suddenly realized that there was really nothing to worry about at all. That I the real I, not the superficial ego, is the whole cosmos. Then he said they try to explain this to their friends afterwards, their friends said oh you are so crazy you were under such strain and so they try to forget it and put down this experience. He said most of my work is in reviving this and telling people that this is an authentic experience! “

-Alan Watts