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Colquhoun: ‘For myself, the automatism may be significant in itself, but frequently it is no more, though also no less, than a basis upon which a work of art, figurative or non-figurative, may be built. I am inclined to think that the best results will be obtained from interpreted automatism.’

The essay “Children of the Mantic Stain” drew on her experiences of teaching art to school children and focussed on the educational aspects of Surrealist methods “for all who find the actual beginning of a work of art a difficulty”. This was a creative approach for which she continuously advocated, demonstrating automatic techniques for beginners at various talks and via a BBC programme in 1948.’

‘Colquhoun describes how Carl Jung believed that only through a process of intently watching the contents of the alembic would the substance of the alchemist’s own fantasy world be released.‘

‘Automatism, or automatic techniques, are methods of art making which remove the concious or intentional aspects of creation; they include techniques such as decalcomania, in which wet paint or ink is pressed between two pieces of paper, such that the image is created by pressure and appears on both surfaces.’

‘Having worked in a predominantly figurative Surrealist style between 1936 and 1939, Colquhoun later recorded that following the trip to Chemillieu and the discussions around psychomorphology which took place there, she “began to use these automatisms in drawing and painting and continued to do so for twenty-five years.”

‘It is in the nature of all things that take form to dissolve again. Strive with your whole being to attain perfection.’

‘If you just let people talk, giving them your complete and compassionate attention, they will say things of a surprising spiritual depth, even when they think that they don’t have any spiritual beliefs. Everyone has their own life wisdom, and when you let a person talk you allow this life wisdom to emerge.’

‘Compassion is not true compassion unless it is active.’

‘For real communication to be established, you must make a determined effort to see the person in terms of his or her own life, character, background and history, and to accept the person unreservedly.’

‘Remember that your task is not to convert anyone to anything, but to help the person in front of you get in touch with his or her own strength, confidence, faith and spirituality, whatever that might be.’

‘When you leave each thing in its own state, then its shape doesn’t change, its color doesn’t fade, and its glow does not dissapear. Whatever appears is unstained by any grasping, so then all that you perceive arises as the naked wisdom of Rigpa, which is the indivisibility of luminosity and emptiness.’

‘Become as resourceful in inspiring yourself to enter your own peace as you are at being neurotic and competitive in the world.’

‘Have a spacious, open and compassionete attitude toward your thoughts and emotions, because in fact your thoughts are your family, the family of your mind. Be like an old wise man, watching a child play.’

‘Thoughts and emotion are the radiance and expression of the very nature of your mind. They rise from the mind, but where do they dissolve? Back into the mind. Whatever arises, do not see it as a particular problem. If you do not impulsively react, if you are only patient, it will once again settle into its essential nature.’

‘As you continue to practice, then meditation slowly arises. Meditation is not something you can “do”, it is something that has to happen spontaneously, only when the practice has been perfected.’

‘Rest in natural great peace

This exhausted mind

Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thought. Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves in the infinite ocean of samsara.’

‘Spiritual truth is not something elaborate and esoteric, it is in fact profound common sense. When you realize the nature of mind, layers of confusion peel away. You don’t actually “become” a buddha, you simply cease, slowly, to be deluded. Being a buddha is not being some omnipotent spiritual superman, but becoming at last a true human being.’

On moments of bliss in modern times: ‘Rather than encouraging us to explore these glimpses more deeply, we are told to shut them out. We know that no one will take us seriously if we try to share them. So we ignore what could be really the most revealing experiences of our lives. This is perhaps the darkest and most disturbing aspect of modern civilization. — its ignorance and repression of who we really are.’

‘Christians and Jews call it “God”; Hindus call it “the Self”, “Shiva”, “Brahman,” and “Vishnu” ; Sufi mystics name it “the Hidden Essence” ; and Buddhist call it “buddha nature”. At the heart of all religions is the certainty that there is a fundamental truth, and that this life is a sacred opportunity to evolve and realize it.’

‘Sem is the mind that thinks, plots, desires, manipulates, that flares up in anger, that creates and indulges in waves of negative emotions and thoughts, that has to go on and on asserting, validating, and confirming it’s “existence” by fragmenting, conceptualizing and solidifying experience.’

‘The ordinary mind is “That which posseses discriminating awareness, that which posseses a sense of duality — which grasps or rejects something external — thats is mind.” Sem (Tibetan for ordinary mind) is the discursive, dualistic, thinking mind, which can only function in relation to a projected and falsely perceived external reference point.’

‘He who binds himself to a joy, does the winged life destroy. He who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity’s sunrise.’ — William Blake

‘Since impermanence to us spells anguish, we grasp on to things desperately, even though all things change. We are terrified of letting go, terrified, in fact, of living at all, since learning to live is learning to let go. And this is the tragedy and irony of our struggle to hold on: not only is it impossible, but it brings us the very pain we are seeking to avoid.’

‘What is born will die, what has been gathered will be dispersed, what has been accumulated will be exhausted, what has been built up will collapse. And what has been high will be brought low.’