Geo histoire N°6

 

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“The Truth of Your Own Nature” is a close-up of the huge statue of Maitreya Buddha which is in a temple inside Thiksey Monastery in front of the Himalayan hills of Ladakh.

This picture was published page 58 & 59 in GEO HISTOIRE N°6
Le bouddhisme : de la naissance de Siddharta à l’exil du Dalaï-Lama.
DECEMBRE 2012 – JANVIER 2013

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To Conquer Oneself

“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others”.
(Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha)

This seated Buddha is sheltered in a room which is barely opened to visitors in Hemis Gompa which is a Tibetan monastery located in the Himalayan hills, on the opposite side of the Singge Tsangpo river (Indus) in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir).
I was surprised by the beard and the turban which give a Muslim influence to the statue.
This unusual piece is surrounded by impressive painted walls of a high quality.
There was a natural light coming from the open door.

LE POINT – Hors-série – Les Maîtres Penseurs – Numero 5 – BOUDDHA

2 pictures shot in Ladakh published on page 85 and page 88 in the February-March issue of the French magazine Le Point.

http://www.journaux.fr/feuilleteur.php?id=139861&fromrevue=presse

The Abode of Snow

 

“The good shine from afar Like the snowy Himalayas. The bad don’t appear Even when near, Like arrows shot into the night.” (Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.) This is a view of the Tibetan Plateau in the Himalayas very early in the morning. For those who know me it might be funny to know that I took this picture from the plane which was taking me from Delhi to Leh in Ladakh, as I have a strong flight phobia since I am a child… The word "Himalaya" means "home (or abode) of snow", it comes from Sanskrit hima "snow" and alaya "abode". Sanskrit himá "frost, snow" is also cognate to Latin hiems "winter" from PIE (Proto-Indo-European language) ghyem-. As words, the expression "Himalaya Range" is therefore similar to the Spanish-based mountain range called the Sierra Nevada. Everything is so connected…

The Second Buddha

 

This is a picture of the Padmasambhava statue shot in Hemis Monastery in the Himalayan hills of Ladakh.
The Lotus Born, is said to have transmitted Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century where he is better known as Guru Rinpoche (“Precious Master”) or Lopon Rinpoche and where followers of the Nyingma school regard him as the second Buddha. 

He said: “My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. 
My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantrabhadri. 
I belong to the caste of non-duality of the sphere and awareness. 
My name is the Glorious Lotus Born. 
I am from the unborn sphere of all phenomena. 
I consume concepts of duality as my diet. 
I act in the way of the Buddhas of the three times.”

He is further considered an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and traditionally even venerated as “a second Buddha”.

“The Way is not the Sky”

 

“The way is not in the sky. 
The way is in the heart”. 
(The Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

This Tibetan monk was watching the Himalayan hills from the ramparts of Hemis Gompa (monastery) in Ladakh.
There was almost a complete silence around us, I could only feel the cold wind wrapping my body and soul, maybe it was the lungta, this mythical Tibetan creature from pre-Buddhist times that combines the speed of the wind and the strength of the horse to carry prayers from earth to the heavens…

A Shadow that Never Leaves

 

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. 
If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. 
If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him”.
(The Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

This is one of the first picture I took of Chemet Nameyail at Hemis Gompa (monastery) which is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Drukpa Lineage which is located in Hemis, Ladakh (within the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir). 
Situated 45 km from Leh at an altitude of 12,000 feet , the monastery was established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Senge Namgyal and is one of the highest settlements of the world.

This young man is a monk, he has a beautiful soul, full of knowledge and happiness, he speaks an amazing English.
I believe that we are also made of the people we meet who leave us something from their soul and I wish I kept some of his amazing energy.
I have sent him some of the pictures that I shot that day, he said he will come to see me in Benaras when he goes to Sarnath.

This is another portrait of him:
www.flickr.com/photos/designldg/3553372451/in/set-7215761…

Living Purely

 

“Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. 
Do your work with mastery. 
Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine”.
(The Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

This young man is a Tibetan Buddhist monk, we met in Hemis Gompa, a monastery located in the Ladakh region of the Western Himalayas, at an altitude of 12,000 feet making it one of the highest settlements of the world.
He was kind enough to spend an afternoon with me in the monastic complex and to open a few rooms where I could see amazing statues among other marvels.
We managed to talk, I was mixing English and Hindi and he was answering in Ladakhi and Tibetan that I don’t speak at all however we managed to understand eachother.
His name is Jigmat Stanzin Lama and he must be one of the purest soul I ever met so far.
I’ll never forget those precious moments, like this one when he was blowing in a ceremonial trumpet in order to welcome several monks and the oracle who were coming back from a ceremony that they had to perform in the hills.

The Truth of Your Own Nature

 

“One method of meditation that many people find useful is to rest the mind lightly on an object. 
You can use an object of natural beauty that invokes a special feeling of inspiration for you, such as a flower or a crystal. 
But something that embodies the truth, such as an image of Buddha, or Christ, or particularly your master, is even more powerful.
Your master is your living link with the truth, and because of your personal connection to your master, just seeing his or her face connects you to the inspiration and truth of your own nature”.
(Sogyal Rinpoche, from Glimpse of the Day)

This is a close-up of the huge statue of Maitreya Buddha which is in a temple at Thiksey Monastery in front of the Himalayan hills of Ladakh.
Whether you believe in Buddhism or not, this representation of Lord Buddha can be inspiring and close to the words of Sogyal Rinpoche.

“Do not believe in anything”

 

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. 
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. 
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. 
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
(The Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

This is a close-up of the statue of Maitreya Buddha at Thiksey Monastery in Ladakh.
When I took this picture I was alone in the temple facing that huge statue which fills the room completely.
It was at sunrise, from the windows I could see the Himalayan hills, even the cold wind couldn’t break the silence there.