A Song, A Dream, A Whisper

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“You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered.
You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.”
(From “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks)

Early in the morning this lady lit up a diya (candle) at Dasaswamedh ghat and let the holy waters of the Ganges carry away her prayer as if it was a song, a dream, a whisper…

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The Head, the Eye and the Heart

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“To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004)

This picture was shot in All Saints Cathedral of Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
It was at the end of the Sunday Mass, this family came close to the marble altar in order to get Absolution from the priest.

The building is considered as one of the finest Anglican Cathedral in Asia, it was built in 13th century Gothic style, and was consecrated in 1887.

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Through Patience and Prayer

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“O you who believe! seek assistance through patience and prayer; surely Allah is with the patient.”
(Quran – The Cow 2.153 )

This was shot in Delhi on a Friday at lunch time.
Several men were gathering in front of little mosque and I went to the upper terrace of a house nearby in order to shoot all this for a movie that I was doing then.
Soon more people came and it became a vibrant and colorful scene for the movie and a geometrical composition for black and white pictures.

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Like Drops of Water

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“If you are filled with desire
Your sorrows swellLike the grass after the rain.
But if you subdue desire
Your sorrows shall fall from you
Like drops of water from a lotus flower.”
(Hindu Prince Siddhārtha Gautama – the Buddha, 563-483 B.C.)

Those marigolds were offering at the entrance of the Mahabodhi Temple which is the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), located in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar.

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Peace and Serenity

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“And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in any situation.
Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our peace and serenity.
The most important thing is for each of us to have some freedom in our heart, some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart.
Only then will we be able to relieve the suffering around us.”
(Thich Nhat Hanh – Vietnamese Monk, Activist and Writer, b.1926)

This young monk was under the Bodhi Tree behind the Mahabodhi Temple which is the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar.

- This picture is dedicated to those suffering from the Himalayan earthquake -

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Together

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“The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups.
A good principle was never found solitary in any breast. “
(Hindu Prince Siddhārtha Gautama – the Buddha, 563-483 B.C.)

Those monks are pilgrims who came to Bodh Gaya in the Indian state of Bihar.
They were praying and singing under the Bodhi tree facing the Mahabodhi Temple where Siddhārtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi.

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Perfect Knowledge

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” “What would Buddha do to search for perfect knowledge ?”
“Your mind becomes Buddha.
Your mind is Buddha.
All the Buddhas’ ocean of perfect knowledge begins in your very mind and thought.”
(Amitayur Dhyana Sutra 17)

Buddha doesn’t have to do anything to gain perfect knowledge.
He knows he has it already.
He knows we have it already.
But someone we seem to be left out of the loop.
How ironic that we don’t know we have perfect knowledge !
What went wrong ?”
(From “What would Buddha do ?” by Franz Metcalf)

Those two Tibetan monks were under the Bodhi Tree which is behind the Mahabodhi Temple, the place of Gautama Buddha’s attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment), in Bodh Gaya (बोधगया), in the Indian state of Bihar.

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Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

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“Vakratunda Mahaakaaya Suryakotee Sama Prabhaa.
Nirvighnam kuru mey deva
Sarva kaaryeshu Sarvadaa..”
(O Lord with twisted trunk and massive appearance whose splendor is aqual to a million suns…
Please bless me such that I do not face any obstacles in any of my endeavors, anytime. )

Lord Ganesha is addressed through this mantra, popularly known as the vakratunda mantra.
Ganesha can be viewed as a symbol of that energy which can help us overcome the obstacles in our path to spiritual growth and enlightenment.
The chanting of mantras is believed to invoke a connection to the particular energy associated with the deity that is being addressed by the mantra.
Ganesha is the ruler of the mooladhara chakra, located at the base of the spine, and is also known as the root chakra.
Hence, “Ganesha is invoked as the starting point of the ascent to awareness, as the one who causes that energy to rise up, which leads the seeker to a union with the divine”.

Ganesha Chaturthi, the great Ganesha festival starts today, it is celebrated by Hindus around the world as the birthday of Lord Ganesha.
This is a picture of a clay Ganesha murti worshipped during this festival and which normaly goes to the holy waters of the Ganges, however this one never leaves me since a few years…

May Lord Ganesha bestow success, happiness and prosperity upon you all.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2011…!!!

Realms of the Senses

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“…Whatever Hindus affirm of the meaning of life, death, and suffering, they affirm with their eyes wide open.
Many westerners, for example, upon seeing Hindu rituals observances for the first time, are impressed with how sensuous Hindu worship is.
It is sensuous in that it makes full use of the senses – seeing, touching, smelling, tasting and hearing.
One “sees” the image of the deity (darsan).
One “touches” it with one’s hands (sparsa), and one also “touches” the limbs of one’s own body to establish the presence of various deities (nyasa).
One “hears” the sacred sound of the mantras (sravana).
The ringing of bells, the offering of oil lamps, the presentation of flowers, the pouring of water and milk, the sipping of sanctified liquid offerings, the eating of consecrated foods- prasad – these are the basic constituents of Hindu worship, Puja.
For all its famous otherworldliness, India is a culture that has also celebrated the life of this world and the realms of the senses.”
(“Darsan – Seeing the Divine Image in India” by Diana L Eck)

This man was praying at a side of Manikarnika Ghat (मणिकर्णिका घाट) along the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Since five years I often take a few pictures of him whenever I come there and he doesn’t seem to mind about it.
He is always worshipping the elements with gestures carrying a sensuous grace…

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Om Namah Shivaya

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“Namaḥ Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded at the very center of the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Agamas.
Na is the Lord’s concealing grace, Ma is the world, Śi stands for Śiva, Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul.
The five elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation.
Na is earth, Ma is water, Śi is fire, Vā is air, and Ya is ether, or Ākāśa.
Many are its meanings.

 

Namaḥ Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondage of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect.
Namaḥ Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance.
Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.

 

The holy Natchintanai proclaims, “Namaḥ Śivāya is in truth both Āgama and Veda.
Namah Śivāya represents all mantras and tantras.
Namaḥ Śivaya is our souls, our bodies and possessions
Namaḥ Śivāya has become our sure protection.”
(The meaning of the Namaḥ Śivāya mantra explained by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami)

 

This student from the Sanskrit University, trained to become a Hindu priest, was performing the daily Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
This religious ritual ceremony worships the elements and it is easy to make a link to any faith.