William Blake portrayed, in striking and unique ways, his understanding and experience of what our human nature is, and what our potential is. There is a large amount of commonality between Blake's work and the teachings of Zen Buddhism. They both focus on knowing ourselves fully, rather than seeking an external source for wisdom or spirituality.

This (free) interactive webinar, taking place on Saturday August 3rd from 11am to 12:30pm ET, will examine some key quotes and art from William Blake and quotes from Zen tradition, and how Zen and William Blake relate to our human potential.

Born in England in November 1757, William Blake was never financially successful but always, barely, kept a roof over his head and that of his beloved wife Catherine. He had apprenticed for seven years in engraving and was self-taught in poetry.

Blake used his engraving, painting, and illustration skills to earn a bare-bones living, primarily through commissions for work from close friends and followers who believed in his genius. He never reached a larger-scale popularity or recognition during his life.

In his work, Blake portrayed the human being as ultimately what he called Albion, which is an ancient name for the island Britain. For Blake, "Albion" was the original man before the mythological, timeless fall from a healthy and integrated state of being.

The four capacities that have become fragmented from each other are sensation, intellect, desire / love, and imagination. Due to the fragmentation, the capacities are conflicted and are imbalanced in expression, resulting in a lack of fulfillment of the individual's potential.

Carl Jung spoke similarly of mental capacities of sensation, thinking, feeling, and intuition. Psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott pointed out that real progress in psychotherapy occurs when the client grasps a new insight in a manner that unites intellect and emotion.

Blake himself emphasized uniting and freeing the four capacities to act as one in an integrated, liberated human being and society. The result is experience and expression of the individual's and humankind's native ability to love, create, and think in productive ways.

In this session we will examine and discuss several key quotes and artworks from William Blake, and explore their universal meaning, and how they relate to Zen teachings as pointers to an inspired understanding and experience of life.

From Huineng, the sixth patriarch in China of Zen, in seemingly simple words:

Just be true, and there are no barriers.

From Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell":

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.

Explore the wisdom of Zen and Buddhism with long-time practitioner and teacher David B. Alexander. We will look at some well-known and lesser-known expressions and quotes of Zen and Buddhism, and examine what they are communicating.

Two of the quotes we will examine: "What is the sound of one hand?" and "To study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self...."

Zen expression is often about experiences that are not common and not very easy to understand. However, that challenge is sometimes used, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to make Zen seem mysterious. The reality is that these expressions and quotes express important experiences, giving words to our immense potential as human beings. The meaning is often not obvious at first, but can be understood better when discussed with clarity.

Discover more of the profound and liberating meaning of Zen and Buddhism.