Philosophy

gnothi sauton — know thyself

My own brand is designed to reflect my philosophy and sense of aesthetic. I chose a Zen botanical design to honor the natural world and the honeybee for its properties of creativity and intuition (and to remember my grandmother and guru, Bea Withrow, shown at right).

Bees are a fascination of mine because of their ability to locate pollen and communicate this location to their hive through a kind of ecstatic dance. Amazingly, a physicist has proposed the bee dance relates information in a sixth-dimensional space, at a quantum level. This is at the heart of intuition as well—it happens at a level higher than conscious awareness. When something is intuited we cannot explain how we arrived at that conclusion. The nature of doing custom web design, working closely with clients to locate their core brand, is a kin to the bees and their quantum dance.

Bees are said to have built the second Orphic Temple at Delphi out of wax and feathers. The temple was inscribed with the Greek phrase gnothi sauton—know thyself. Temples throughout the ages have been found with depictions of bees. Bees also prevail in sacred imagery of prophets, sages and alchemists. Alchemy, in its metaphysical sense, is shifting and evolving consciousness as a process to form the philosopher's stone—an instrument for becoming our divine Selves. Your core brand, expressed through your website is your organization's philosopher's stone.

The Buddhist principle of mindfullness is where I begin my process of web design. The images chosen on my site reflect mindful, natural beauty as well as spiritual artwork done in mindful ways. In every detail I seek to bring mindfullness and the value of work as a sacred act of giving our best to the universe. This is why I posted the Tibetan mantra or prayer "om mani padme hum" at the bottom of each page. Each year I tithe a portion of my profits to the Tibetan Nuns Project. This important project supports and educates Tibetan nuns living in exile.

From Click here for good Karma, "In English this ["om mani padme hum"] means "the jewel in the lotus of the heart"; it is a reference to the hidden spark of divinity within each of us. The six syllables of the mantra are said to purify the six negative emotions: pride, jealousy, desire, ignorance, greed, and anger, while simultaneously engendering the six qualities of the enlightened heart: generosity, harmonious conduct, endurance, enthusiasm, concentration, and insight.

"If the mantra is inscribed once and placed into a prayer wheel, each rotation of the prayer wheel accumulates the same merit as saying the mantra once. Similarly, a prayer wheel containing 100 million instances of the mantra yields the same purification power per rotation as saying the mantra 100 million times." Having it on my web server's hard drive keeps the mantra spinning constantly. If you would like to hear a Buddhist monk chanting the prayer click here.

I've also created some t-shirts and gifts so you can spread the mantra just by getting dressed. Visit my Om Mani Padme Hum Dharma Store for Tibetan Buddhist designs on Cafe Press to see the different designs and styles, including mugs and journals.

It is through conscious right livelihood that we fulfill our greatest purpose in life. My intention is that Design Motif may assist you in creating and expressing a web brand that speaks to your philosophy and the heart of your organization's purpose.