Interplay: An Artist's Approach to Spirituality

Synopsis

Driven by the pursuit of inspiration and breakthrough experiences, musician, artist, and writer Abu-Shakra explores the inner terrain and develops a spirituality centered on attaining higher states of mind.

Interplay shows the benefits and risks of intensely energized, minimally disciplined spiritual development and emphasizes evoking the balancing process directly from life’s experiences.

Weaving memoir with fiction, discussions on art and music, and unique observations on the nature of reality, Interplay traces the author's progression from skepticism to groundbreaking revelations on synchronicity, mysticism, and the process of initiation.

Author Biography

Makram Abu-Shakra is a critically acclaimed experimental musician, artist, and writer whose interests lie in exploring consciousness and uncovering expressions from the deeper self. Working with the subtle and the ambiguous led him to develop a multi-faceted creativity. As he writes in his debut book Interplay: An Artist's Approach to Spirituality, he wishes to "create a matrix through which an audience could freely maneuver to see, to read, to watch, and to hear from various positions of their choosing, much as one would shine light through a crystal from various angles." Most of his work is available online at www.shiftingshadow.net.

Abu-Shakra's spiritual side emerged when his early inspired moments turned mystical in nature. Recognizing the elusiveness of spiritual matters and capable of experiencing higher states of mind on his own, he developed his spirituality independently of outside influence, and his artistic and spiritual paths retained a strong link. He reasons that an artist functions like a scout, capable of going beyond the horizon of conscious understanding and bringing back new insights to be integrated with the self as a whole. His work can be viewed less as "art for art's sake" than as "art for evolution's sake."

Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1971, he has resided in California since high school. He obtained degrees in computer science and currently lives and works in San Francisco.