“Imagination is very personal; it’s like a fingerprint, it’s one of the most identifiable features of a self,” she says. “And at the same time, it’s also just a self. We play, like masks; we put them on and take them off. We play very seriously with our masks, but all of these things are almost a proof of what Buddhism says about no-self.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from anyone I’ve ever interviewed.  After I spoke with Canadian-American Ruth Ozeki, filmmaker and author of A Tale for the Time Being, My Year of Meats, and All Over Creation, I was so blown away by her intellect, insight into the creative process, and understanding of how art enacts versions of the self that I hung it on my wall, above my writing desk.

In any case, read my interview with this Zen Buddhist priest & novelist here at Buddhistdoor Global: The Fiction of the Self.

Photo courtesy of the author

Cover photo: “The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis – “Ko-jo” Noh Theater mask” by Michelle Pemberton, via wikimedia Creative Commons