With every new artistic endeavour, we can discover not only a new destination but also the path that led us there. But how to stay on the path, and what path should we take? As someone who has often struggled with these questions, I became increasingly interested in meditation as a means to helping with focus and intention. I found that as with most journeys, it helps to have a guide. 

So on this week's episode of Mind to Make, I speak with artist, musician, film-maker and now meditation & mindfulness instructor/counsellor Josh Reichmann about how our minds play such an important role in the process of art making. We discuss Josh's introduction into mindfulness, meditation, Buddhism and the various forms and meanings attached to those terms, as well as how they manifest themselves in us and others. We discuss addiction, suffering and finding meaning and compassion both for ourselves and others. We talk about how having a moral or ethical framework can and should be as important as what we are trying to say with our work. We speak about how mindfulness can be a first step to beginning a journey along the middle path of creation and discovery.

It should be noted that the concepts Josh and I discuss in the program are complex to say the least. Though we stray from our own conversational path on several occasions, I would attribute this to my own learning as an interviewer as well as to the depth and complexity of the subject matter. I hope to further explore this topic with Josh in a future episode to derive more clarity on the topic, and would invite listeners to put forth any questions they might have as a result of hearing this conversation. 

Josh very modestly had this to say of himself and his career thus far...

I wrote and recorded with Tangiers and released three records with that rock band and toured around and made music videos. I continued on to release five more solo records. Most were about telepathy and magic. My recent feature film was just completed and screened for Cannes and Lacarno film festivals considerations by Telefilm. It is featuring members of the Tibetan community and focuses on the bardos and self immolation and living in exile.

I graduated as a Contemplative Psychotherapist and counsel and teach mindfulness and meditation through the Tibetan Galugpa tradition of which I am a student. I teach meditation at a Tibetan temple.

I'm writing more film...and a new record.

You can get more information about Josh's counselling practice at www.joshreichmann.com

The song used in this episode, After Live is written and performed by Josh Reichmann, released on Hand Drawn Dracula