Blue Erigeron or Fleabane growing a topknot with petals growing directly from the centre of the flower. Actually, quite a few of them did that this year.

There is an interesting aside on this in that every part of a plant, petals, stamen, stem, leaf and root has identical genetic coding, yet each grows into something entirely different. The question is then, what informs it?

Rupert Sheldrake (Cambridge University) has done some interesting work on this in what he calls 'morphogenetic fields' where the information of Life lies in another plane of existence. Of course he has been marginalised for many years for his work as it does not conform with 'established' views and, despite his methods being extremely scientific he is still viewed as 'fringe'. There are some that would say - me included - that what he calls a morphogenetic field, could also be called spirit / consciousness..

FOCUS SEABROOK 100K CONTEST - Category: Abstract

Visit this location at Digital Art -Cammino e Vivo Capovolto in Second Life

Every time a person tries to make another person fit into their reality, a little piece of their soul dies.

pulls your consciousness into a mode of observation that is really rewarding, almost addicting :-)

John Divola

HPPT!

rose, 'Love and Peace', little theater rose garden, raleigh, north carolina

I haven't worked in monochrome for a long time, so I thought a photo just taken with my iPhone on an August walk called for black & white. In mid-August signs of autumn start to make themselves known. The misty day matched my mood; too much news of the day had entered my consciousness, and I was feeling in kind of a funk. There is nothing like a walk with your faithful dog to brighten your mood.

"Autumn: Time to dim the sunlight, cue the moody fog, and watch nature's most charming story unfold."

~ Angie Weiland-Crosby

"Wheel me to a country road; where treetops are a winding map to deep silence and soul."

~ Angie Weiland-Crosby

"Children, the coolness of the breeze, the beams of the moon, the vastness of space and all things of the world-these are all permeated with Divine Consciousness. Knowing and experiencing this Truth is the Goal of human birth."

Mata Amritanandamayi Devi

(Sri Anandamayi Ma)

Yellow Osteospermum. - currently being brought on in the greenhouse.

Marilyn Manson - mOBSCENE

Bauhaus Movement - Industrialized Consciousness Poses @TLC

Amsterdam - Termini

Copyright - All images are copyright © protected. All Rights Reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of any of these images without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

There is only one religion,

the religion of love.

There is only one race,

the race of humanity.

There is only one language,

the language of the heart.

IF...

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same:.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThapJtWKwcQ

Kalimera my dear friends!

..."Well it's

Too late

Tonight

To drag the past out into the light

We're one, but we're not the same

We get to

Carry each other

Carry each other

One"...

One

- U2

View On Black

sometimes we move and live like in a dream

borderline state of consciousness

"The Fountain of Consciousness" the Audiomachine youtu.be/vwWtOteW9Yg

Inséré dans un ancien cirque glaciaire entouré par une belle forêt de sapins, le lac des Corbeaux est un lac glaciaire de 9 hectares situé à 887 mètres d'altitude sur la commune de La Bresse, dans les Vosges.

Le nom du lac n'est pas lié à la présence de corbeaux. Une première hypothèse suggère que le nom est dû à la présence des sapins sombres qui le bordent et donnent à son eau une couleur noire comme celle des corbeaux. Ce raisonnement semble trop indirect et une deuxième hypothèse plus simple parait plus plausible. Le terme « corbeaux » serait une déformation du nom « courbées » faisant référence aux courbes du relief très pentu entourant le lac. Le nom « lac des Courbées » aurait dérivé vers « lac des Corbeaux ».

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_des_Corbeaux<

(ENGLISH FOLLOW)

À l’Ouest du Temps - La forêt de Fangorn *

« Les aventures fantastiques ont rarement une fin. Il y a toujours quelqu’un pour en comprendre les fondements et continuer le récit » (Un sage)

__________

Je suis retourné à l’Ouest du Temps, là où tout a commencé, à l’orée de la forêt de Fangorn.

Des arbres sombres portant de magnifiques fleurs blanches étendaient leurs longues branches, comme pour marquer, d’un geste de bienvenue, le passage vers les profondeurs de la forêt. Ils auraient pu être de lointains ancêtres de nos pommiers, mais, selon l’histoire locale, ils appartenaient à la civilisation des Ents, la plus vieille de la Terre du Milieu. Ces arbres étaient dotés, croyait-on, d’une forme de « conscience » et d’une mémoire collective remontant aux origines. On racontait qu’ils étaient capables de communiquer entre-eux et avec d’autres espèces et même d’agir ensemble dans l’intérêt commun…

Soudainement, je fus submergé par une marée d’impressions insistantes: de la curiosité, une extrême vigilance, l’écho lointain de zones d’ombres, de blessures béantes au coeur des arbres. Puis, un bruissement soutenu des feuilles me figea sur place avec appréhension. Et, d’une manière que je ne saurais expliquer, j’en compris le sens: « Prend garde en traversant la forêt. Fait preuve de respect envers nous. Et nous t’aideront à trouver le courage d’affronter les mystères et les dangers auxquels tu devras faire face dans le Monde.» (Patrice le Hobbit)

____________

À l’Est du Temps, le rationalisme moderne a relégué, les récits, les contes, les légendes anciennes y compris les écrits de Tolkien et de bien d’autres grands auteurs, aux domaines de l’imaginaire, de la spiritualité, de la magie pure, du folklore et du divertissement. Comme si, rien de ces écrits n’avait une quelconque résonance avec des savoirs utiles tirés de l’expérience humaine…

Or, des découvertes récentes en neurobiologie, en biologie végétale et en écologie appliquée aux arbres et aux forêts tendent à donner un fondement scientifique à plusieurs mythes anciens à leur sujet: les arbres sont des entités sociales et conscientes, capables d’apprendre, d’interagir et d’évoluer. **

Ce que les Anciens savaient, mais qu’ils ne pouvaient pas exprimer par des mots, plutôt avec des images métaphoriques et poétiques, comme Tolkien - deviennent maintenant un champ de recherche scientifique moderne, périphérique certes, mais courageux et prometteur.

Patrice photographiste, Chroniques du Monde de Poësia

*Forêt mythique de la Terre du Milieu dans le récit du Seigneurs des Anneaux (J.R. R. Tolkien)

** Voir notamment : Peter Wohlleben, (La vie secrète des arbres); Suzanne Simard, (Finding the Mother Tree - Discovering the Wisdom of Forest)

______________________________

West of Time: Fangorn Forest *

“Fantasy adventures rarely have an end. There is always someone to understand their foundations and continue the story” (A wise man)

__________

I have returned to the West of Time, where it all began, at the edge of Fangorn Forest.

Dark trees bearing magnificent white flowers stretched out their long branches, as if to mark, with a welcoming gesture, the passage to the depths of the forest. They might have been distant ancestors of our apple trees, but according to local history they belonged to the Ent civilization, the oldest in Middle-earth. These trees were believed to be endowed with a form of “consciousness” and a collective memory going back to the origins. They were said to be able to communicate with each other and with other species and even to act together in the common interest...

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by a tide of persistent impressions: curiosity, extreme vigilance, the distant echo of shadowy areas, gaping wounds in the heart of the trees. Then, a steady rustle of leaves froze me in place with apprehension. And, in a way that I cannot explain, I understood the meaning: “Be careful while crossing the forest. Show us respect. And we will help you find the courage to face the mysteries and dangers you will face in the World. (Patrice the Hobbit)

____________

In the East of Time, modern Rationalism has relegated stories, tales, ancient legends including the writings of Tolkien and many other great authors, to the domains of the imagination, spirituality, pure magic, folklore and entertainment. As is, none of these writings had any resonance with useful knowledge drawn from human experience...

However, recent discoveries in neurobiology, plant biology and ecology applied to trees and forests tend to give a scientific basis to several old myths about them: trees are social and conscious entities, capable of learning, interacting and advancing. **

What the elders knew, but could not express in words, rather in metaphorical and poetic imagery, like Tolkien - now becomes a field of modern scientific research, peripheral indeed, but courageous and promising.

Patrice photographer, Chronicles of the Lands of Poësia

* Mythical forest of Middle-earth in the story of Lord of the Rings (J.R. R. Tolkien)

** See in particular: Peter Wohlleben, (The Hidden Life of Trees, The Secret Wisdom of Nature); Suzanne Simard, (Finding the Mother Tree - Discovering the Wisdom of Forest)

In the darkest place

What was once named consciousness

I'm a miniature

I'm a sketch forfeiting outlines

Irrelevant entity to sanity

A hive for nonsense

For multiple selves

Resonating, but never compromising

JINJER

Ein ganz besonderes Erlebnis:

Heilsbronner Münsterführung bei Kerzenschein

- Candlelight tour at the Heilsbronn Cathedral

Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream"

No place like home! feels so nice to be back with the family after a couple of days alone. The peace and quiet without the children was just too earie!

Wishing everyone a beautiful week ahead and will try to catch up over the next few days.

Leave you with another quote ;-)

True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. It is, on the contrary, an element calm and deep. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding - Ellen G. White

A large monolithic presence rises from the ground, in a play of lights, reflections and fades.

The representation of power that takes shape in action, of consciousness that flows into knowledge, in a symbolic dialogue between thought and evolution.

MILANO DESIGN WEEK 2023

Università degli Studi di Milano. (Anno 1456)

MILANO

they cannot be separated, dissected, synthesized, poisoned with lab cultures

all living things live within other living things, feed on them, interact with each other

consciousness is the force that glue it all together

humans are in no way different, superior, smarter

let alone those who think they can possess and control everything

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJZcYmD_nQ0

Like Dream fragments, images captured from consciousness streams of Psychonaut experiences…

Created from my photos.

All rights reserved. This photo is not authorized for use on your blogs, pin boards, websites or use in any other way. You may NOT download this image without written permission from iSEEthings, Jeff Fornear

Dear Flickr Friends: Thank you for stopping by and saying hello. I appreciate your visits and comments. They mean a great deal to me. I read all of them, and if a follow-up comment is appropriate, I will leave one for you on your website or send you a Flickr email.

Our photographs are extensions of ourselves. They are fleeting glimpses of our daily experiences and the consciousness we bring to the world. That makes them very important to us. Right?

In advance, I thank you for your visits and comments. I will be stopping by your sites shortly.

About this Photo: This is a picture of Euclid Creek, one of nature's beauty spots in northeast Ohio. This area is a part of the Euclid Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks. God bless the Cleveland Metroparks. It is an incredibly important source of healing and peace for area residents. In these dire and stressful economic times, everyone needs healing and peace. Right?

This is an HDR photo created by merging three exposures in Photomatix software. While I have had good results from the software, it does at times produce some funky color variations in blue skies. Even with some help from Photoshop, this funkiness remains. I am open to your suggestions, if you have some.

COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

I have wrapped the wide world in my wider self

And Time and Space my spirit's seeing are.

I am the god and demon, ghost and elf,

I am the wind's speed and the blazing star.

All Nature is the nursling of my care,

I am its struggle and the eternal rest;

The world's joy thrilling runs through me, I bear

The sorrow of millions in my lonely breast.

I have learned a close identity with all,

Yet am by nothing bound that I become;

Carrying in me the universe's call

I mount to my imperishable home.

I pass beyond Time and life on measureless wings,

Yet still am one with born and unborn things.

by Sri Aurobindo Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Calcutta, India

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening,

And live like it's heaven on earth.”

― William W. Purkey

Soundtrack : www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbJruWd6bmU

I HOPE YOU DANCE – RONAN KEATING

DANCE

In dreams I walked; dazed by events

and blinded to the truthful present

blind-sighted; blinkered by the ensuing darkness

I clung to life like a life-buoy being dragged out to sea

the horizon looked so far away

no land in sight to fill my heart with hope and gaiety

but the further I drifted;

the more the sand beneath the ocean shifted

and a fault inside the Earth cracked wider and pulled me down

I was drowning deeply; water rising

my face upturned to see blue skies

last conscious thought was of the clouds descending

as they lifted me I felt my hopes rise

and consciousness broke gently

as the gentle tide lapped on the shore

I felt so light and free of pain

I began to doubt that I existed anymore

and now I feel the sand between my twitching toes

the salt air invades my pink and shiny nose

the gentle rainfall on my wind-whipped cheeks

I dance on tip-toes; writing poetry with my feet

splashing through the deepening puddles

fulfilling dreams; deconstructing puzzles

I feel alive; I have survived

a miracle set me free

no longer need to wonder now

or wander aimlessly

twirling; swirling; spun by the wind

my body is at one with nature; it will not rescind

I will not let it; I am a fighter; I found my light

and the dark and dreaded “tunnel” is now far from my sight

I need not let my history repeat itself in perpetuity

I can break it down and recreate my newly chosen destiny

- AP – Copyright remains with and is the intellectual property of the author

Copyright © protected image please do not reproduce without permission'

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

⭐Thanks for the pleasure Flickr to share my picture in Explore May 25, 2020 ! ⭐

The Geomethras - Spiritas Geometrium by Daniel Arrhakis (2022)

The Geomethras - Spiritas Geometrium

You just can't live that negative way. You know what I mean. Make way for the positive day. Cause it's a new day... -

Bob Marley

The universe does not know whether the vibration that you're offering is because of something you're observing or something you're remembering or something that you are imagining. It just receives the vibration and answers it with things that match it.” -

Abraham Hicks

The words we choose to use when we communicate with each other, carry vibrations. The word ‘war’ carries a whole different vibration than the word ‘peace’. The words we use are showing how we think and how we feel. The careful selection of words, helps to elevate our consciousness and resonate in higher frequencies. -

Grigoris Deoudis

A no has a different frequency than a yes, and a maybe is all vibration, oscillating between no and yes. My favorite answers have no movement.” -

Jarod Kintz, Xazaqazax

Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! xo💜💜

This beautiful flower Antigonon leptopus was taken with a Canon EOS Coolpix 700D. Enjoy with Love and Light!

Il symbolise la dualité entre la nature et l’homme. Il sera en pleine métamorphose sur le char. Il incarne la dualité entre l’instinct animal et la conscience humaine. Entre humour et poésie ce char illustre donc la métamorphose au masculin. Un clin d’œil joyeux et très carnavalesque au pouvoir de l’amour, de l’équilibre et du renouveau.

(Source: Site officiel Nice Carnaval)

------------------------------------------------------------

Frog King. Nice Carnival 2026

He symbolizes the duality between nature and man. He will be undergoing a complete metamorphosis on the float. He embodies the duality between animal instinct and human consciousness. Blending humor and poetry, this float illustrates metamorphosis in a masculine way. A joyful and very carnivalesque nod to the power of love, balance, and renewal.

(Source: Official website of the Nice Carnival)

An astronaut attempted an elegant yoga pose on the Moon; he lifted one leg and immediately drifted sideways, like a wayward balloon. After many attempts, somehow... despite the drifting, the wobbling, and the laws of physics being put to the test, he felt perfectly centered, proving that even in low gravity, it is possible to rise consciousness above one's own chaos.

— "Ommm! This is peace!"—

Macro Mondays: "Outer Space"

My attempt to the challenge, a little plastic astronaut, less than 3" including negative space.

All My Links

Again this one of the many shots I took while down at the Reservoir near Wernigerode. I've always wanted to capture a shot such as this, that darker sinister sense of imagery.

But that said, it gave me such a sense of the way of the common human consciousness, or should I say lack thereof, of just how ambiguous we have become to the word "Empathy", we are so powerful in togetherness, I know it sounds trite and awkward and cheesy, even downright annoying to hear it, but when we are wowed by an enormous explosion in Libya and forget dozens of people are dead and thousands injured caused no doubt deliberately by a dark force; when we are aware of the plight of the starving Yemenis as well the desperation of the Palestinians, it reminds of a lyric by Chris Rea from the single The Road to Hell...

"And the perverted fear of violence, chokes a smile on ever face"

I truly hope it is paved with good intentions.

Mid week, we're almost there folks and so as always thank you! :)

Happy Christmas to all!

Happy Christmas means enjoying real happiness coming from within Christ consciousness. All experience of happiness comes from within, for the source of happiness lies in our self which is our divine self Atman or Christ consciousness being the source of happiness. So all the happiness every being enjoys and experiences comes from within.

Someone may say nice words to us or do nice things to us or give us presents and this activity of the others makes us happy ….. but this happiness comes from inside us for it opens our spiritual heart and lets the love or happiness inherent in it to flow outwards so our body senses can feel it.

This happiness did not came from any where else but from our divine self, for our divine self is the source of happiness and only from it, it can flow outwards.

Our self lies inside our spiritual heart, actually it is our spiritual heart and so love and happiness can flow only from our heart. That is why we say “heart to heart communion” for only between hearts we can have communion of love and joy or bliss.

If we feel sad and experience unhappiness the reason is that we have closed our spiritual heart and the inherent flow of joy that is our self cannot pass and flow through a closed heart. Our false ego being offended closes the door of our spiritual heart and we feel cold and abandoned. No one else has caused this distress we feel, we are the ones that caused this distress by closing the door of our heart so the bliss of Atma, of our self, can not reach our outer body senses. The cause of our unhappiness is not due to others but of our ego self that distance itself from the real self the Atman which sits in our spiritual heart. We feel distress and unhappiness only when we distance away from our divine self and identify with our false ego which is the creation of illusion and ignorance.

So the wise say we are the embodiments of supreme bliss and love, only if you are immersed in ignorance you experience unhappiness and distress. Ignorance is your real enemy for only ignorance is causing you unhappiness. The more the ignorance you have, the more the unhappiness you experience. A rich man is a man who experiences all the time joy, a poor man is the one who experiences distress, fear and agony most of the time with very few intervals of real happiness.

So celebrating the birth of Christ means we celebrate the birth of Christ consciousness inside us by letting the bliss of the Atman to pour to our body senses. To open our hearts and let the bliss of the self to saturate our being!

So we wish you a Happy Christmas means we wish you to open your heart by overcoming ego and ignorance and experience the unlimited joy that lies inside you, inside your Atman, inside your real self!

THE SILENCE OF THE SIRENS BY FRANZ KAFKA

PROOF that inadequate, even childish measures may serve to rescue one from peril:To protect himself from the Sirens Ulysses stopped his ears with wax and had himself bound to the mast of his ship. Naturally any and every traveler before him could have done the same, except those whom the Sirens allured even from a great distance; but it was known to all the world that such things were of no help whatever. The song of the Sirens could pierce through everything, and the longing of those they seduced would have broken far stronger bonds than chains and masts. But Ulysses did not think of that,although he had probably heard of it. He trusted absolutely to his handful of wax and his fathom of chain, and in innocent elation over his little stratagem sailed out to meet the Sirens.

Now the Sirens have a still more fatal weapon than their song, namely their silence.And though admittedly such a thing has never happened, still it is conceivable that someone might possibly have escaped from their singing; but from their silence certainlynever. Against the feeling of having triumphed over them by one’s own strength, and theconsequent exaltation that bears down everything before it, no earthly powers can resist.

And when Ulysses approached them the potent songstresses actually did not sing,whether because they thought that this enemy could be vanquished only by their silence,or because the look of bliss on the face of Ulysses, who was thinking of nothing but his wax and his chains, made them forget their singing.

But Ulysses, if one may so express it, did not hear their silence; he thought they were singing and that he alone did not hear them. For a fleeting moment he saw their throats rising and falling, their breasts lifting, their eyes filled with tears, their lips half-parted, but believed that these were accompaniments to the airs which died unheard around him. Soon, however, all this faded from his sight as he fixed his gaze on the distance, the Sirens literally vanished before his resolution, and at the very moment when they were nearest to him he knew of them no longer.

1But they — lovelier than ever — stretched their necks and turned, let their awesome hair flutter free in the wind, and freely stretched their claws on the rocks. They no longer had any desire to allure; all that they wanted was to hold as long as they could the radiance that fell from Ulysses’ great eyes.

0If the Sirens had possessed consciousness they would have been annihilated at that moment. But they remained as they had been; all that had happened was that Ulysses had escaped them.

A codicil to the foregoing has also been handed down. Ulysses, it is said, was so full of guile, was such a fox, that not even the goddess of fate could pierce his armor.Perhaps he had really noticed, although here the human understanding is beyond its depths, that the Sirens were silent, and held up to them and to the gods the aforementioned pretense merely as a sort of shield.

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If you know how to touch the rainbow, you know.

Reflections of the sky and a footbridge with railings that crosses The Hogsmill River just where it joins The Thames.

Locked inside your consciousness with only a flicker of light begrudgingly offered from the mirror on the wall.

Teilhard would say that the challenge of spirituality is to integrate what does not seem to fit. To make it fit requires expanding one’s consciousness to new levels. As people add more and more complexity to their lives and integrate it, they continue to expand and further develop their consciousness.

-Teilhard de Chardin’s

The Phenomenon of Man

Explained Louis M. Savary

wishing you all a new year filled with joy, peace, creativity

and a golden stream of beauty in your consciousness

thankyou to everyone who stopped by through 2010 - to old friends and to new friends. your work inspires me each and every time I open up flickr, your comments warm my heart, your faves always make me smile, and your beautiful words simple and long, are always appreciated.

xx

This is a work by the artist Kader Attia, which he actually named Couscous.

This is also a work by a photographer who thought the work was called something else for the longest time and read Couscous as Conscious.

This is a work by a human who wakes up in the middle of the night, thinking dead people are alive and that she should call them. And that same human can't get back to sleep.

This is a work by a human who suffers, laments, thinks a lot about life and realizes this is what separates the conscious from the unconscious.

This is a work of someone who is interested in all layers of consciousness and wish her subconscious would communicate more with her non subconscious so that she knew how she truly felt about reality before she went to sleep and was unconscious.

This is also the work of someone who feels that to be conscious means one must have a conscience.

This is the work by a human who struggles with the idea that she would ever really be unconscious even if she were in a coma.

This is the work of a human who is wondering if she is actually in a coma and all of this is a very vivid presentation of how her brain is still experiencing life in a separate dimension than what we would always classify.

This is the work of magic desolation, textures, and light. Let's keep thinking about these things and realizing things about ourselves.

This is a reason why humanity might be worth saving after all.

More by Kader Attia: kaderattia.de/works/

**All photos are copyrighted***

Music (right click to open in a new tab):

"Jungle Horn" by IF, BWANA in 'Radio Slaves' (2007)

play.spotify.com/track/0DGjar0nSlO38sHgLkQqQN

Today is my father’s birthday and he would have been 74 years old in the way that us humans who still have bodies measure time. I know his consciousness still exists because he’s sent me signs and I had a visitation dream from him a few months ago. If I had met myself right now a year ago, I might not recognize the person I am today in many ways. But, I have accepted that to dismiss the idea that consciousness continues and that we live on this Earth for many lives is just arrogance. We cannot continue to demand proof for everything, either. That is also a form of arrogance. We have to open ourselves like a door to different possibilities. In any case, I can’t look back at the human I was. I have to move forward.

Still, it’s really hard to experience your first holidays and birthdays “without" a person you’ve known your whole life. It’s not just them that it feels like vanishes in your darkest moments but it’s also an aspect of yourself in a weird way. Everyone sees you and experiences moments with you that are unique and that helps you piece together what your identity is now and what it can become. We’re still all in this primordial mess, really, just trying to figure it all out. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut would say.

Also, your body knows the truth even if your heart believes consciousness still exists. In this case, my hair started falling out in long red strands. I still have a full head of hair but I feel like something is missing a little more each day.

My dad wasn’t a very easy person to be around when I was growing up, to be honest with you. He had a bad temper at times and it was best you avoided him when he was in a certain mood. There was a part of me that felt I could never live up to what he wanted me to be, especially in terms of my intelligence. I don’t think he ever realized that I felt this way, though, or maybe he didn’t understand how pervasive my thoughts about this were. I was and still am a very sensitive person. If someone is in a bad mood, I assume it’s my fault. I’ve had significant OCD symptoms since I was little and, because of this, I tend to play and replay interactions in my head, wondering what I could have done differently and perseverating on everything I did wrong. It’s hard for me to move past conflict because of this. My dad had this perception that if you didn’t do things his way, you were contradicting him on purpose or just flat out wrong without realizing fully how different brains can truly be. He didn’t seem to mind conflict (in fact, he seemed to thrive on it) and sometimes things I wasn’t even aware I was doing would set him off. Everyone has their “things” so to speak and rules they decide on in order to exist in a reality they consider reasonable and fair. That’s all I will say about that because I’ve accepted it in my own way.

My dad was also a highly intelligent, talented, progressive, and passionate person. I realized this when I actually sat down to write his Obituary in the summer. Making sense of a life-my life or another person’s life is laughable. We are just so complex. But, we still have to try. As a photographer, I was drawn to all of the photos of memories I had forgotten about with my dad I went through to put together for the service. I don’t have any brothers or sisters so I don’t have a comparison point for how my dad treated siblings. My mom just recently found this photo and it’s very much the age my dad appeared when he visited me in my dream and we were back in my first childhood home in the dining room. He was younger than I am now in the dream and I am still thinking about how absolutely absurd time seems.

What I found in these photos were moments of genuine love and acceptance, even if I wasn’t always aware of them at the time. I was always so stuck in my own head space. If I didn’t squeeze my toes every time I passed a yellow house, something bad was going to happen. If I didn’t tap my fingers every time a red truck went by, something bad was going to happen. If I told anyone why I was hysterically crying for seemingly no reason, something bad was going to happen. Must be, everyone felt like this and went through this, I thought. It was probably just a part of life anyway. I’m sure I wasn’t the easiest daughter. I always thought I was going to be poisoned or get gangrene or fall prey to some unexplained event because I didn’t do all the right things at all of the right times. That’s what having OCD is like for a child, by the way. And, keep in mind that if you know a child who seems melodramatic often, again they might not tell you why they are upset because they are too superstitious about it to do so. There’s an unexpected monster lurking around every corner. It always seems like there’s far more danger in the world than safety to us. Random and painful, life is coming for you. And as Douglas Adams said, “Life is wasted on the living.”

But what I actually just realized in the last few hours of my existence is that going through all of the photos, all of the memories, all of the things my dad wrote in his memoirs class (like when I flew out of a roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland and he pulled me to him until the end of the ride) is a little like Kintsugi. We’re such broken beings and every day a little more cracked and aching. So, we have to do our best to piece it all back together and make sense of our life on Earth and our relationships. We can re-attach with twine or even lacquer or superglue but what we have left might transform completely from what we started with before we fell apart. I have fallen apart many times myself.

Isn’t it great that we can use Kintsugi with photos to put it all back together again? We’re going to continue to exist, no matter how hard it is. The world can feel like a bunch of noisy nonsense most days. Sometimes, we ask for more when we don’t deserve it or at least think we don’t. We are going to mend and try to make amends. We are going to make mistake after mistake after mistake and we are going to feel so sad about it in a way that feels relentless and we’re just going to keep crawling on our knees to find all of the missing pieces. It’s ok if we leave some of the pieces out when we reconstruct. Maybe we find them and maybe we don’t. Then, we look in the mirror and don’t recognize ourselves. Maybe that’s ok, too. But then we find ourselves in a photo all over again with someone we love and somehow in that moment things make sense again.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

**All photos and senseless rambles are copyrighted. So it goes**

Actually, Midjourney

"I conclude that the relationship between brain and consciousness is like that between two dancers who always move together, but sometimes with one and sometimes the other taking the lead." John Hick, the New Frontier of Religion and Science (2006). Fuji X-Pro3 plus Samyang tele lens at F5.6, contre-jour, reflector.

And, perhaps more importantly, why should you think of me?

NordArt 2015, Ochirbold Ayurzana, Consciousness, 2014

Image dédiée à Pat (New Pat)

Patan Durbar Square, Krishna Mandir Temple, Lalitpur (Patan). Nepal, 22 de marzo 2024

.....

Runaway Train

Dig

Underlands

Shine

Breathe

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You can find more accurate and extensive information about what a Sadhu is on Wikipedia or many other websites. A Sadhu is a Hindu monk who has embraced asceticism as a philosophical doctrine. A Sadhu seeks to purify the spirit by denying material or worldly pleasures, renouncing possessions through abstinence, in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment through penance and austerity. Sadhu is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as "holy man," someone who abandons their former life to follow a path of renunciation and spiritual discipline. Many of them live in nature or in communities. They often wear saffron-colored robes, but they can also wear orange or yellow robes, or other types of clothing, but primarily in these colors. These colors symbolize the "fire of renunciation." Many of them, especially the Naga Sadhu ascetics, choose not to wear clothing on their upper bodies, leaving their upper torsos bare, as in the photograph. Although more commonly found in India, some Sadhus go completely naked, covered in gray ash (Vibhuti), which represents the transient nature of their bodies on this spiritual journey. Sadhus typically have very long, matted hair (Jata), often gathered on top of the head in a bun, or their dreadlocks are wrapped in a turban, which may be yellow or orange. These characteristics help distinguish them from other types of devotees or pilgrims. Perhaps one of the main indicators that you are in the presence of a Sadhu is the facial paint (Tilak) they wear on their foreheads, usually yellow, red, white, or a combination of these colors. When they apply paint to their foreheads, creating vertical lines or U-shaped patterns (Urdhva Pundra), as in the photo, it signifies that you are in the presence of a Vaishnava Sadhu (or Vairagi), devotees of the god Vishnu or his incarnations such as Rama and Krishna. They usually paint one or two vertical lines that meet at the base, forming a "U" or "V," representing the footprint of Vishnu. They generally wear saffron-colored clothing, and some wear white. A Vaishnava Sadhu is often found in Patan Durbar Square (Lalitpur is known as Patan) because that is where the Krishna Mandir, the stone temple dedicated to Krishna (Vishnu), is located and dominates the square. They are also often found in Kathmandu Durbar Square, seated near the Vishnu temple there. When a Sadhu paints horizontal lines (Tripundra) on his forehead, you are looking at a Shaiva Sadhu, a devotee of the god Shiva. The three horizontal lines are made with sacred ash (vibhuti). They usually wear saffron-colored clothing, and some cover their bodies with ash. They often wear their hair matted (jatas). Shaiva Sadhus are usually found in the Durbar of Kathmandu (Basantapur), especially on the steps of the Shiva-Parvati Temple and also near the statue of Kaal Bhairav. There is a third group of ascetics besides the Shaivas and Vaishnavas: the Shakta Sadhus, who are less numerous. Their identification is more complex because they often overlap with Tantric traditions. They are devotees of the Mother Goddess (Shakti) and are therefore called Shaktas. Unlike the Shaivas (followers of Shiva) or Vaishnavas (followers of Vishnu), the Shakta Sadhus focus their practice on the dynamic power of the Goddess in her many forms, such as Durga, Kali, or Taleju. The markings they wear on their foreheads (tilak) can vary depending on the specific deity they worship. Some paint circles or dots on their foreheads, often a large red dot (bindu) made of kumkum (vermilion powder), which represents the third eye or the center of creative energy. Others often wear a mixture of lines: They frequently use a combination of a red mark (Shakti) on a base of white ash or sandalwood, symbolizing the union of energy with pure consciousness. Still others use horizontal lines with a prominent red dot in the center to indicate that their primary devotion is to the Goddess within the Shaiva-Tantric tradition. This third group of Sadhus are those found in the Durbar of Bhaktapur, known as the City of Devotees, which has a strong connection to the worship of the Mother Goddess (Shakti). The Nyatapola Temple is dedicated to Siddhi Lakshmi, a Tantric form of the goddess Durga (Shakti). Also located in this Durbar is the temple of Taleju Bhawani, the goddess of the Malla kings, a fundamental Shakti deity in the Kathmandu Valley. There are three Durbar in this valley. The existence of these three main squares stems from the fact that for centuries, the Kathmandu Valley was divided into three rival kingdoms, each king vying to build the most magnificent temples and palaces, resulting in this extraordinary concentration of art and architecture. These squares were the center of political, social, and religious life, and it was here that kings were crowned and the most important festivals were celebrated. The word Durbar comes from the Persian word (darbār) and literally means "palace" or "royal court." In the context of Nepal, a "Durbar Square" is the main square located in front of the former royal palaces and temples. The three Durbars are those mentioned above: Patan Durbar Square (in Lalitpur, known simply as Patan), with its strong Buddhist influence; Kathmandu Durbar Square (Basantapur), in the capital city; and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The three Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur are part of the Kathmandu Valley Monuments, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Postscript:

Underlands - Andrew Bird

Language translators literally translate the word "Underlands" as "lowlands." But the translation isn't accurate, especially in the context of Andrew Bird's song. "Underland" is a more literary or metaphorical term, used by Andrew Bird to refer to what lies beneath the surface. The song doesn't speak of lowlands, valleys, or plains, but of a journey into the depths of our consciousness. A journey to the underworld, if you prefer, to the "subterranean lands," to a subterranean and psychological space within us. That underworld, or inner subworld, is represented by the space of the subconscious hidden beneath our skin. If you decide to descend into the dark depths of your mind, if you decide to journey into the hidden and strange interior that exists within us all, "Underlands" might be the perfect song for this journey.

Photographed at the Japanese Art Museum, Haifa, during the exhibition Spirit of the Way.

The exhibition explores the concept of “dō” — the Way — in Japanese arts, and reflects on mushin and zanshin, the awareness that continues beyond action.

“This exhibition covers a wide range of Japanese arts that carry the suffix “dō” (道), which have shaped the cultural and spiritual landscape of Japan. Dō, meaning “way,” originates from the Chinese concept of Dao, which was integrated over the generations into Zen Buddhism. Both traditions sought to understand the essence of the “way” as an inner and spiritual journey.

This view has profoundly influenced the evolution of many Japanese arts, including shodo (書道), “the way of writing”; chado (茶道), “the way of tea”; and budo (武道), the martial arts. Each invites the practitioner to a process of meditation in action, beginning with the quieting of the mind and continuing with performance of the movement with complete attention and full presence, without expectation of a result and without striving for a goal. The action itself is the purpose and the reward.

The connection between these arts and the spirit of Zen Buddhism is embodied in the concept of mushin (無心), a consciousness “without grasping”. This is a state in which thoughts and expectations do not disrupt the action, and the action occurs as second nature, for example, when drawing the sword freely without hesitation in martial arts, the line that emerges during a single breath in calligraphy, or the meticulous movements of the tea ceremony. Mushin is not passive emptiness. It is complete clarity and the simplicity of harmonious action, which is done as if by itself.

Alongside stands the principle of zanshin (残心, “the remaining heart”), an awareness that continues even after the action is finished. This is the moment after the action, whose importance is no less than that of the action itself. It is the calming of inner vibration after swinging the sword, the gentle tremor that remains on the paper after the brush is lifted, the silence after pouring the tea into its bowl. Zanshin returns the gaze to the state of being that continues beyond the movement itself.

The arts that carry the suffix “dō” offer a complete way of life – shugyō (修行, “rigorous training”) – and practitioners themselves become the “way”. The way unfolds in every moment and every action. It is a path for personal development throughout life, and a complete dedication to continuous practice that is inseparable from life itself.”