View allAll Photos Tagged CONSCIOUSNESS
Shiva is pure consciousness. He is the Supreme Lord’s greatest bhakta as he is always meditating upon Narayana. Known as the Lord of Destruction, he stands for the dissolution of the mind, which is exactly what we need in order for pure Love to awaken inside the heart. Through his Grace, Shiva destroys our pride and ego so that bhakti can grow in our hearts and we can rise to attain the Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana.
Our Shivaratri celebrations were hosted live from Mauritius with Paramahamsa Vishwananda and Shree Peetha Nilaya - The Ashram. Festivities included several Shiva-lingam abhishekams, yajnas, and beautiful kirtan by Bhakti Marga's devoted and talented musicians.
paramahamsavishwananda.com
bhaktimarga.org
Digital image on canvas (2013)
Large: 90 x 90 cm
Small: 60 x 60 cm
In this self-portrait, Wang Lang has expressed an important Buddhist concept: "I" am merely fragments of consciousness. Here the "I" refers to our collective concept of self as separate from others, from the surrounding environment, from the universe. When we think of ourselves as "I" or "me", we lose the sense of overarching connection between all things, the complete interconnectedness of all things. This is what the Buddhists might refer to as a discriminating mind or biased thinking.
According to Buddhist philosophy, in the endless cycle of Samsara (life, death and rebirth), "you" or "I" become the aggregate of consciousness and karma accumulated from past existences, so the "I" or "me" is constructed out of all the consciousness built up from past to present. From this perspective our core essential being is a collection of many past states of consciousness and individual instances of awareness, hence our identity is a fragmented collection of consciousness.
Since our own self-awareness is a reflection of our own limited comprehension, experiences, perceptions and biases, we are but mere fragments in the grand scheme of a higher wisdom that transcends individual consciousness. The "I" is simply a tiny array of pieces in a larger puzzle that can only be arranged fully and completed through enlightenment.
Site Curator,
Chris Harry
Designer: Liu Bingli (刘秉礼)
1965, December
Develop the revolutionary consciousness to strive for the realization of the third five-year plan!
Fayang geming jingshen wei shixian di san ge wu nian jihua er fendou! (发扬革命精神为实现第三个五年计划而奋斗！)
Call nr.: PC-1965-l-007 (Private collection)
More? See: chineseposters.net
We do not forget that even in the North much greater consideration is shown the white man who
attempted the dissolution of this government than to the black man who served it.
The poetry of the "Blue and the Gray" is much more acceptable than the song of the black and the white.
~ Christian Recorder, July 13,1890
The Christian Recorder is the oldest existing black periodical in America, and the only one in the United States whose existence dated before the Civil War.
The Christian Recorder focused on religious news, but a lot of the paper was devoted to secular news. Articles were written about education, voting rights, equality, and other secular issues that affected the lives of black Americans. The Christian Recorder was a forum to address slavery, classism, as well as racism. Articles were written by black women and about black women, and the paper also addressed issues related to families.
The Christian Recorder was a strong and vocal opponent to slavery. It repeatedly addressed the biblical and moral issues of slavery and encouraged and nurtured black consciousness. Following the Civil War, the Recorder encouraged its readers to be diligent in protecting their families from whites who wanted to harm the newly freed slaves and regularly addressed the issue of families separated by the evils of slavery and published articles that tried to provide information that would assist in the reuniting of family members.
Shiva is pure consciousness. He is the Supreme Lord’s greatest bhakta as he is always meditating upon Narayana. Known as the Lord of Destruction, he stands for the dissolution of the mind, which is exactly what we need in order for pure Love to awaken inside the heart. Through his Grace, Shiva destroys our pride and ego so that bhakti can grow in our hearts and we can rise to attain the Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana.
Our Shivaratri celebrations were hosted live from Mauritius with Paramahamsa Vishwananda and Shree Peetha Nilaya - The Ashram. Festivities included several Shiva-lingam abhishekams, yajnas, and beautiful kirtan by Bhakti Marga's devoted and talented musicians.
paramahamsavishwananda.com
bhaktimarga.org
Jitka Hanzlová (1958), Ohne Titel (aus der Serie "Wald") - Untitled (from the series "Forest"); 2004 (C-Print), Albertina
Forest
Jitka Hanzlova explores her own history in the series Forest. Having grown up in Czechoslovakia, the artist fled to West Germany in 1982 and studied photography in Essen. After the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, she returned home and produced photographs exploring her experience with and affiliation to two different cultures and political systems. Shot in the woods of her native Bohemia near the Carpathians within a period of five years, Hanzlova's Forest fathoms how homeland and environs inform one's identity and cultural alliance. The pictures subtle colors and apparently random compositions visualize the woods as both a concrete landscape and a personal metaphor.
The Albertina
The architectural history of the Palais
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Image: The oldest photographic view of the newly designed Palais Archduke Albrecht, 1869
"It is my will that the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".
This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.
Image: The Old Albertina after 1920
It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.
The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.
In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.
Image : Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie Christine show in family cercle the from Italy brought along art, 1776. Frederick Henry Füger.
1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.
Picture: The "audience room" after the restoration: Picture: The "balcony room" around 1990
The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:
After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".
Picture: The "Wedgwood Cabinet" after the restoration: Picture: the "Wedgwood Cabinet" in the Palais Archduke Friedrich, 1905
This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.
The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.
Image: The Albertina Graphic Arts Collection and the Philipphof after the American bombing of 12 März 1945.
Image: The palace after the demolition of the entrance facade, 1948-52
Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.
Image: The palace after the Second World War with simplified facades, the rudiment of the Danubiusbrunnens (well) and the new staircase up to the Augustinerbastei
This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.
Image: The restored suburb facade of the Palais Albertina suburb
The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.
Image: The new entrance area of the Albertina
64 meter long shed roof. Hans Hollein.
The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".
Christian Benedictine
Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.
Lily of Consciousness is one of a series of Buddhas which include "Rainbow Consciousness" and "Golden Spirit" representing the different colors and aspects of awakening consciousness.
Sitting beneath the unfolding lily of pure consciousness, this Buddha calmly reflects on the perfection of life. With vivid colors effortlessly blending together in a liquid grace. Wherever you place this Artwork it will create powerful feelings of calmness and serenity for you.
ift.tt/2fYhiON #Babe Ruth lying unconscious after running into a wall chasing a fly ball. He would regain consciousness 5 minutes later and get 2 more hits in the game. July 5, 1924. [902 × 722] #history #retro #vintage #dh #HistoryPorn ift.tt/2gWZeEC via Histolines
another image from my 'dreams' series for uni..
i'm a mean big cousin, making my little cousins lay onion grass
You could call this an experiment.
Two participants.
Neither of whom like drawing very much.
Two streams of consciousness.
Flowing onto paper.
Take it for what it is.
View Large:
farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4754694896_6cf23a5a69_o.jpg
[press and hold ctrl and then scroll out to adjust size so both streams are visible at the same time]
---
Shiva is pure consciousness. He is the Supreme Lord’s greatest bhakta as he is always meditating upon Narayana. Known as the Lord of Destruction, he stands for the dissolution of the mind, which is exactly what we need in order for pure Love to awaken inside the heart. Through his Grace, Shiva destroys our pride and ego so that bhakti can grow in our hearts and we can rise to attain the Lotus Feet of Lord Narayana.
Our Shivaratri celebrations were hosted live from Mauritius with Paramahamsa Vishwananda and Shree Peetha Nilaya - The Ashram. Festivities included several Shiva-lingam abhishekams, yajnas, and beautiful kirtan by Bhakti Marga's devoted and talented musicians.
paramahamsavishwananda.com
bhaktimarga.org
the ability to choose and arrange the rainbow's spectrum can be transformed into an intellectual motif -- the rainbow of consciousness and the explosion of the individual within the whole.
all of us are born into this social contract of humanity. we don't have any choice about this. we are raised and reared within the boundaries of these social contracts.
currently, in this part of the world, there is a loosening of the moral and religious hold on sexuality and the range of the human heart's ability to be bigger than the limited and challenging gender roles of the past.
both sexes, men and women, are starting to understand themselves inside a much greater context and understanding than we think the past afforded.
it is just one of the outgrowths of a materialized capitalistic system of social contracting.
with moving imagery and invisible worlds now firmly entrenched across the country, the powerful syndrome of "the emperor who wore no clothes" can take full effect.
in the original tale, the narrative stops short on the exclamation of a small girl child who says, "but, mommy, he's not wearing any clothes!"
and of course, the moral right and the rigid uptight sexual judgers all come down on the period with their verdict -- which really is that the emperor has been cheated and defrauded in front of everyone.
but we already know of this lesson.
so perhaps we really should be asking where our true naked leaders are -- not the one who got cheated and defrauded and paraded in front of his subjects by clever tailors. we should be asking where our naked leaders of greatness and awesomeness and full human glory might be.
we really should be considering the idea that our leaders shouldn't need to be covered up in metaphorical or physical buffers and boundaries.
but our leaders are weapons manufacturers and drug dealers and pornographers.
our leaders spread disease and pestilence and cause wars in other countries.
our leaders are not rainbow warriors. they are gold and diamond collectors. they use time and drugs to rule and reign. they use entertainment and news to delight and bemuse.
we are the fire children.
we love our energy.
but we don't worship the sun like we used to in the alleged past.
we worship ourselves.
and this worship of the self is the exploding dahlia.
we are these dahlias floating through space. and each of us explode one day.
"The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love" (I Am That p70)
Hindu Nisargadatta Maharaj seated eyes closed smiling. (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, blissfully seated in his family home in Bombay. Photo by Greg Clifford.)
By Eugene Yu Ji
This image is generated from a spike-field coherogram representing neural activities of a mouse's olfactory bulb during a recording trial of a smelling-and-acting experiment. The red area shows a high-level coherent activities in the gamma band among neurons, which lasts less than a second. During this period, the mouse attempts to identify whether he encounters an odor indicating his favorite sugar pellet. Neural activities in gamma bands are fundamental for identifying similarities and differences in the perceptual world for almost all mammalian animals.
##
This image was submitted to the University of Chicago's 2023 Science as Art competition. From fossils to fly anatomy, the entries display the gorgeous landscape of scientific research going on every day at the University of Chicago. Imags were submitted from undergraduates, graduate students, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members. Read more.
Image may only be reprinted with credit to the authors and the University of Chicago.
Lorenzo Tosti
"the Roots of Consciousness"
Inverno 2014
Tecnica Mista
Dimensioni : ca. 100cm x 60cm
Un grazie per la disponibilità e l'entusiasmo alla fotografa Tanja Frieling (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/) che mi ha gentilmente concesso l'utilizzo della foto da cui ha avuto origine questo lavoro (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/11424429193/ : immagine coperta da copyright).
Grazie anche Chebet per la disponibilità e al suo www.facebook.com/Wazawazi?fref=ts
Lorenzo Tosti
"the Roots of Consciousness"
Inverno 2014
Tecnica Mista
Dimensioni : ca. 100cm x 60cm
Un grazie per la disponibilità e l'entusiasmo alla fotografa Tanja Frieling (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/) che mi ha gentilmente concesso l'utilizzo della foto da cui ha avuto origine questo lavoro (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/11424429193/ : immagine coperta da copyright).
Grazie anche Chebet per la disponibilità e al suo www.facebook.com/Wazawazi?fref=ts
2012 Consciousness Awakening
Alchemy (Itunes)
itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=3...
CDbaby
Itunes
phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=...
www.facebook.com/people/Ralph-Buckley/1631325855
itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=3...
Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by Ralph Buckley.
There are six characteristics of pure devotional service, which are as follows:
(1) Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress.
(2) Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness.
(3) Pure devotional service automatically puts one in transcendental pleasure.
(4) Pure devotional service is rarely achieved.
(5) Those in pure devotional service deride even the conception of liberation.
(6) Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
It is stated in the Padma Purāṇa that there are four kinds of effects
due to sinful activities, which are listed as follows:
(1) the effect which is not yet fructified,
(2) the effect which is lying as seed,
(3) the effect which is already mature
and (4) the effect which is almost mature.
It is also stated that all these four effects become immediately vanquished for those who surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, and become engaged in His devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
In the Padma Purāṇa it is stated as follows:
“A person who is engaged in devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to be understood to be doing the best service to the whole world and to be pleasing everyone in the world. In addition to human society, he is pleasing even the trees and animals, because they also become attracted by such a movement.”
A practical example of this was shown by Lord Caitanya when He was traveling through the forests of Jhārikhaṇḍa in central India for spreading His sańkīrtana movement. The tigers, the elephants, the deer and all the other wild animals joined Him and were participating, in their own ways, by dancing and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has analyzed the different sources of happiness.
He has divided happiness into three categories, which are
(1) happiness derived from material enjoyment,
(2) happiness derived by identifying oneself with the Supreme Brahman and
(3) happiness derived from Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
In the tantra-śāstra Lord Śiva speaks to his wife, Satī, in this way:
“My dear wife, a person who has surrendered himself at the lotus feet of Govinda and who has thus developed pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be very easily awarded all the perfections desired by the impersonalists; and beyond this, he can enjoy the happiness achieved by the pure devotees.”
Happiness derived from pure devotional service is the highest, because it is eternal. The happiness derived from material perfection or understanding oneself to be Brahman is inferior because it is temporary. There is no preventing one’s falling down from material happiness, and there is even every chance of falling down from the spiritual happiness derived out of identifying oneself with the impersonal Brahman.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
In the Padma Purāṇa it is stated as follows:
“Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the highest enlightenment,
and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious snakes of desire.”
Even one drop of happiness in Kṛṣṇa consciousness stands beyond comparison with an ocean of happiness derived from any other activity. Thus, any person who has developed even a little quantity of pure devotional service can very easily kick out all the other kinds of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and liberation.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
It is stated in the tantra-sāstra, where Lord Siva says to Satī,
“My dear Satī, if one is a very fine philosopher, analyzing the different processes of knowledge, he can achieve liberation from the material entanglement. By performance of the ritualistic sacrifices recommended in the Vedas one can be elevated to the platform of pious activities and thereby enjoy the material comforts of life to the fullest extent. But all such endeavours can hardly offer anyone devotional service to the Lord, not even if one tries for it by such processes for many, many thousands of births.”
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has stated that devotional service attracts even Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts Kṛṣṇa. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But Rādhārāṇī is still more attractive, for She can even attract Kṛṣṇa. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohinī — the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of Rādhārāṇī,
and devotees in Vṛndāvana put themselves under the care of Rādhārāṇī
in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of Rādhārāṇī. In Bhagavad-gītā it is confirmed that the mahātmās, or great souls, are under the protection of daivī prakṛti, the internal energy — Rādhārāṇī. So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of Kṛṣṇa, devotional service attracts even Kṛṣṇa Himself.
(The Nectar of Devotion).
bhave bhave yathā bhaktiḥ
pādayos tava jāyate
tathā kuruṣva deveśa
nāthas tvaḿ no yataḥ prabho
O Lord of lords, O master, please grant us pure devotional service at Your lotus feet, life after life.
nāma-sańkīrtanaḿ yasya
sarva-pāpa praṇāśanam
praṇāmo duḥkha-śamanas
taḿ namāmi hariḿ param
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Hari, the congregational chanting of whose holy names destroys all sinful reactions, and the offering of obeisances unto whom relieves all material suffering.
Lorenzo Tosti
"the Roots of Consciousness"
Inverno 2014
Tecnica Mista
Dimensioni : ca. 100cm x 60cm
Un grazie per la disponibilità e l'entusiasmo alla fotografa Tanja Frieling (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/) che mi ha gentilmente concesso l'utilizzo della foto da cui ha avuto origine questo lavoro (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/11424429193/ : immagine coperta da copyright).
Grazie anche Chebet per la disponibilità e al suo www.facebook.com/Wazawazi?fref=ts