Sacred Moments

“A ritual becomes the match that lights the kindred celebration candle of sacred moments long ago… tantalizing these entombed spirits to surface again.”
(Wes Adamson)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

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A Second’s Encounter With Eternity

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
(From “Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho)

This was shot from a boat on the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras) during the celebrations of Dev Diwali on the occasion of Kartik Poornima.
The festival of Lights is a mark of welcome to the Gods as it is believed that they descend on earth on that special day.
In the evening under the full moon reflecting in the holy waters each ghat is performing Ganga Aarti with vedic hymns chanted by priests in order to please and welcome the Gods.

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography

© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

The Humanity Of The Moment

“Black and white are the colors of photography.
To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.
Most of my photographs are of people; they are seen simply, as through the eyes of the man in the street.
There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.
This kind of photography is realism.
But realism is not enough–there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph.
It is difficult to describe this thin line where matter ends and mind begins.
(Robert Frank – American photographer and filmaker, b.1924)

This sadhu was walking at Scindia ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras), it was after sunrise and he was holding a traditional tiffin-box containing a meal prepared by some generous soul…

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Elevation

In Varanasi (Benaras) there is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva between Scindia ghat and Manikarnika ghat which doesn’t look like any other in the city because of its amazing sculptures with angels which are all around the shrine playing different music instruments.
This place is a kind of gate to after death as the cremation ghat is underneath with funeral pyres burning day and night.
It is not easy to climb the high and narrow staircase plunged in total darkness.
However each stair allows to ascend towards the light and to take the time to elevate oneself…

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“A Guit Your” – “Shana Tova”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
(From “A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches” by Martin Luther King Jr.)

Amazing symbols gathered all together on a huge bowl in the gardens of the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum in New Delhi.
With “Om” everything begins, it is a mantra and mystical Sanskrit sound of Hindu origin sacred and important in various Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Like Ganesha who is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, he is the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom, the god of beginnings and therefore he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies.
Then the hexagram which has deep significance in most of the Dharmic and Abrahamic religions.
In Christianity it is often called the star of creation, while it is known as Najmat Dāwūd (Star of David) or Khātem Sulaymān (Seal of Solomon) in Islam and becomes the Magen David when it is recognized as the symbol of Judaism.

In many ways this picture unites us all and allows me to wish everyone, whatever your faith is, “A Guit Your”, “Shana Tova” or, in other words, a Happy New Year.
It is easier to love than to hate, and as we are at the edge of a new conflict I truly want peace to prevail.
May this year be peaceful for all of us…

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A Splash Of Orange Spiritual Vibrations

“Orange strengthens your emotional body, encouraging a general feeling of joy, well-being, and cheerfulness.”
(“The First Element: Secrets to Maximizing Your Energy” by Tae Yun Kim)

There was a game of lights and shadows on a spectrum of spiritual orange vibrations at the small Hanuman temple standing at the edge of Manikarnika Ghat in front of the Ganges in Varnasi (Benaras).
In Hinduism orange or saffron is the most sacred color representing the fire that burns all kind of impurities, this is the reason why this color symbolizes purity.
It also represents religious abstinence and it is the color of holy men and ascetics who have renounced the world.
Wearing orange symbolizes the quest for light.
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The etymology of Orange is interesting, the word comes from the Old French “orenge” (c.1300), the old term for the fruit “pomme d’orenge” coming from Medieval Latin “pomum de orenge”.
It also comes from the Sanskrit word “naranga-s” which means “orange tree” as the tree was probably coming from northern India.
Later it gave «naarangi» in Hindi, “narang” in Persian, “naranj” in Arabic and “naranja” in Spanish.
The name is also related to the places where the orange tree was exported.
The bitter Persian orange, grown widely in southern Europe after its introduction in Italy during the XI° but it was replaced by sweet oranges brought to the rest of Europe in the XV° from India by some Portuguese traders.
Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy.
On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to Haiti and the Caribbean.
I twas Introduced in Florida (along with lemons) in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon and much later to Hawaii in 1792.
___________________________

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True Wisdom

“I know what I have given you.
I do not know what you have received.”
(Antonio Porchia – Italian poet, 1886-1968)

This man is a worshipper of Shiva and stays in an ashram near Raj ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Since a few days it has been very hot in the city but last morning there was a gentle breeze which is a sign of a coming monsoon and this wise man seemed to be enjoying the weather from his balcony…

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Becoming Everything

“Knock, And He’ll open the door
Vanish, And He’ll make you shine like the sun
Fall, And He’ll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, And He’ll turn you into everything.”
(Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi) – Persian poet and Sufi mystic, 1207-1273)

This picture was shot at the entrance of a little temple which is on the last floor of the massive palace standing at Balaji Ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
I was standing at the end of a long dark staircase where I could listen to some bat echolocation calls providing a mysterious atmosphere and suddenly a man opened the door.
The shrine was absorbed by a warm light, there was a feeling of deep quietness and devotion, maybe it was led by the breath of the Divine.
Then from nothing everything became possible…

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The Energies of the Universe

“To the question “What am I? The scripture replies “Tat tvamasi” it means ” You are that”.
Throwing another question “You are that? ….what does the THAT signify?”, the scriptures replies “Aham Brahmasmi” it means “You are part of the Universe”.
Throwing in the last question “Which part of the Universe”, the scriptures replies ” Antaryami” it means ” the super soul within you aka the God which resides within you”.
The quintessential seeker bluntly wonders “The God within me? Is God a thing or a concept? Is God a “He” or a “She”? If God is within me, am I God? How can I be God? Is God working through me?”
( From an article by Saumya Suresh – ablogonpsychology.blogspot.fr/2012/07/anima-animus-indian… )

This is a contemporary Ardhanarishvara statue which stands in front of the main building of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi (Benaras).
Ardhanarishvara is a composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati (also known as Devi, Shakti and Uma).
Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle, it represents the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe and illustrates how Shakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or the same as, according to some interpretations) Shiva, the male principle of God.
The union of these principles is exalted as the root of all creation.
Another view is that Ardhanarishvara as a symbol of Shiva’s all-pervasive nature.

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A New Lease of Life

“He was my own son.
Now you give him a new lease of life”,
said Mother Parvati to Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva then ordered his Ganas to go out and bring the head of any creature they saw first.
It was an elephant that the Ganas found first.
So they cut its head and brought it to Lord Shiva.
Putting the elephant head at the boy’s torso, Lord Shiva infused a new lease of life in him.

Of all the multitudes of deities and gods that constitute the Hindu religion, Lord Ganesha is probably one of the most loved and revered of all, regardless of individual beliefs and customs.
Considered the God of good beginnings and wisdom, it is in his name that new ventures are undertaken and important life decisions made.

This illustration of Lord Ganesha was printed on a tile and fixed on the wall of a house in the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras).
Since a while several walls of the holy city are covered with paintings or tiles showing any image or symbol of the main religions and most often they are displayed all together.
This is a simple trick in order to keep the walls clean as no-one there would dare making a “lack of respect” to any represention of God…

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