View allAll Photos Tagged Formlessness
Radiation comes in many forms, some less daunting than others. Helios radiates, daring the flaring wind to blow rings of smoke and misty reflection. Apparently aimless, its avid voiding formless path is often best avoided. Your smile radiates. I long to see it and this is the nucleus of the matter.
View my Java Indonesia set here
Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.[1] A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.
Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple’s design in Gupta architecture reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian.[2][3] The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia....
A happy short trip to indonesia jogja...
I am not a traveling guy, you seldom see oversea photos from my photostream just because i can't really travel due to my personnel health problem. A long trip or long journey will be quite impossible for me.
Last week, i went for a short trip with some friends to Indonesia Yogyakarta to click some photos. Although not much good shot, it was a fantastic pleasant trip.
Photos from the trip coming soon.
Please note that all the contents in this photostream is copyrighted and protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Copyright Act of Singapore, any usage of the images without permission will face liability for the infringement.
For enquiry, drop a mail to fiftymm99@yahoo.com
Digital Art
A direct path for the mature seeker
1
"Only isness has isness_obviously.
Therefore; Only isness is.
Therefore; Only isness exists.
Anything else lacks
Real being and is not as real
as it appears to be."
2
"Anything you imagine to exist
"out there" does not truly exist in
its own right because only isness
actually is. All form is but an
empty projection and assumption
of the mind. Like a rainbow;
it appears to be there yet it has no
real existence outside the
perceiver."
3
"All illusion is a play enabled by
the underlying power of that
which truly is, and created by your
imagination and belief that a thing
has its own existence when in
reality it does not_ for only isness
has actual being. And isness is not
"this or that perception."Isness is
isness alone. A formless, endless
mystery of timeless sentience.
4
"That which truly is, is God.
And God is your true Self. It must
be so; for if God_isness_is all that
truly is, and since you know for a
fact that you are, then your own
existence must that-which-is.
Hence your being is inseparable
from the beingness of God
5
"This you is Being without
distortion, imagination,
association or alteration. Naked,
conditionless Being. The rest is but
a ghost-like projection resulting
from your forgetfulness of that
basic Self. Ignorance is the result of
ignoring true isness."
6
"This grand illusion of experiences
is not right or wrong, in fact it is
perfect since its true nature must
be God; but to imagine that any
perception has an independent,
separate existence is delusion and
the cause of all sorrows. The
Oneness discovered deep in that
pure isness is the ultimate solution
to all perceived problems."
7
"Follow this logic to its
experimental end, which is the
all-pervasive here and now as it
truly is, with full-hearted attention
_practice it_ and your soul's
eternal seeking shall find
fulfilment in its very own Self
After all. Self-Abidance results."
8
"This liberating logic is not for the
drama-queens and narcissists who
strongly identify themselves with
a body, its insecurity-bound
personhood and set of
circumstances. Freedom is not for
those who like to complain"
9
"Liberation requires a mature
desire and profound intelligence,
which equals a strong attention
span, an ability to grok and
persevere in the subtle, and an
ability to maintain a certain degree
of silence of self. You need to
suspend the flaring up of the
personal self long enough
to awaken to this deeper truth
Pause yourself to know yourself."
10
"With earnest practice you will
become rapidly more intelligent.
Your readiness to see reality right
through the illusion shall increase
with your daily commitment to be
one with that naked issness beneath
the ceaseless movements of your
imagination."
Bentinho Massaro
I was taken to Boroburdur by post-graduate students of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.
The Borobudur Temple Compounds is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The monument is located in the Kedu Valley, in the southern part of Central Java, at the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia.
The main temple is a stupa built in three tiers around a hill which was a natural centre: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha.
The vertical division of Borobudur Temple into base, body, and superstructure perfectly accords with the conception of the Universe in Buddhist cosmology. It is believed that the universe is divided into three superimposing spheres, kamadhatu, rupadhatu, and arupadhatu, representing respectively the sphere of desires where we are bound to our desires, the sphere of forms where we abandon our desires but are still bound to name and form, and the sphere of formlessness where there is no longer either name or form. At Borobudur Temple, the kamadhatu is represented by the base, the rupadhatu by the five square terraces, and the arupadhatu by the three circular platforms as well as the big stupa. The whole structure shows a unique blending of the very central ideas of ancestor worship, related to the idea of a terraced mountain, combined with the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana.
The Temple should also be seen as an outstanding dynastic monument of the Syailendra Dynasty that ruled Java for around five centuries until the 10th century.
The temple was used as a Buddhist temple from its construction until sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries when it was abandoned. Since its re-discovery in the 19th century and restoration in the 20th century, it has been brought back into a Buddhist archaeological site.
It certainly has outstanding, cultural value.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
What a hell of a walk after 36 holes of golf, but well worth it!!
NO HDR. Used ND grad filter with a sky blue Grad.
Below text quoted from www.geographia.com/northern-ireland/ukiant01.htm
"The lunar landscape of the Giant's Causeway, lurking below the gaunt sea wall where the land ends, must have struck wonder into the hearts of the ancient Irish.
* 'When the world was moulded and fashioned out of formless chaos, this must have been the bit over - a remnant of chaos.' - Thackeray
Like the early people of North Antrim, Thackeray was very impressed by the strangeness of this place. Like other sophisticated visitors he had read that the Causeway is a geological freak, caused by volcanic eruptions, and cooling lava.
The ancients knew differently: clearly this was giants' work and, more particularly, the work of the giant Finn McCool, the Ulster warrior and commander of the king of Ireland's armies.
Finn could pick thorns out of his heels while running and was capable of amazing feats of strength. Once, during a fight with a Scottish giant, he scooped up a huge clod of earth and flung it at his fleeing rival. The clod fell into the sea and turned into the Isle of Man. The hole it left filled up with water and became Lough Neagh.
Finn was said to inhabit a draughty Antrim headland:
* 'He lived most happy and content, Obeyed no law and paid no rent.'
When he fell in love with a lady giant on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides, he built this wide commodious highway to bring her across to Ulster.
The first historical accounts of the Causeway started appearing in the late 17th century. The Bishop of Derry made one of the first recorded visits in 1692 and the Chevalier De La Tocnaye, who had the good sense to take his umbrella, galloped up to the cliff edge in 1797 when both he and his horse were enraptured by the view.
Before the famous coast road was built in the 1830s visitors complained about the ruggedness of the trip. But there was one shining compensation on the journey: the town where tourists made their last stop before the final push to the Causeway was Bushmills. Ever since 1608 saddle-sore travellers had been revived with magnums of the King's whiskey at the world's oldest (legal) distillery, which is still in business.
The Causeway proper is a mass of basalt columns packed tightly together. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Altogether there are 40,000 of these stone columns, mostly hexagonal but some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 40 feet high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 90 feet thick in places.
A fine circular walk will take you down to the Grand Causeway, past amphitheatres of stone columns and formations with fanciful names like the Honeycomb, the Wishing Well, the Giant's Granny and the King and his Nobles, past Port na Spaniagh where the Spanish Armada ship Girona foundered, past wooden staircase to Benbane Head and back along the cliff top.
Further down the coast, the stunning Carrick-a-rede rope bridge spans a gaping chasm between the coast and a small island used by fishermen. The terrifying eighty foot drop can be crossed via the swinging bridge - not for the faint hearted!
The ghost of Anne Boleyn, beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII, allegedly haunts the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where she is buried, and has been said to walk around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. Other ghosts include Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, and the Princes in the Tower. In January 1816, a sentry on guard outside the Jewel House claimed to have witnessed an apparition of a bear advancing towards him, and reportedly died of fright a few days later. In October 1817, a tubular, glowing apparition was claimed to have been seen in the Jewel House by the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Edmund Lenthal Swifte. He said that the apparition hovered over the shoulder of his wife, leading her to exclaim: "Oh, Christ! It has seized me!" Other nameless and formless terrors have been reported, more recently, by night staff at the Tower.
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. ב וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם. ג וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר. ד וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. ה וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד
Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day..
© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my prior permission.
Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
(Bruce Lee)
Frankfurt Flickr Meet Höchst, 13.09.2008
Put the expression
a finger poins to the moon in brackets
(a finger points to the moon)
The statement:
‘A finger points to the moon is in brackets’
is an attempt to say that all that is in the bracket
(.............................................................................. )
is, as to that which is not in the bracket,
what a finger is to the moon
Put all possible expressions in brackets
Put all possible forms in brackets
and put the brackets in brackets
Every expression, and every form,
is to what is expressionless and formless
what a finger is to the moon
all expressions and all forms
point to the expressionless and formless
the proposition
‘All forms point to the formless’
is itself a formal proposition
-------------------------------------------
Not,
.......as finger to moon
.......so form to formless
but,
.......as finger is to moon
.......so
.............[all possible expressions, forms, propositions,
.............including this one, made or yet to be made,
.............together with the brackets]
.......to
-------------------------------------------
What an interesting finger
let me suck it
It’s not an interesting finger
take it away
-------------------------------------------
The statement is pointless
The finger is speechless
.....R.D.Laing "KNOTS"
In the stillness of your presence, you can feel your own formless and timeless reality as the unmanifested life that animates your physical form. You can then feel the same life deep within every other human and every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation. This is the realization of oneness. This is love. Eckhart Tolle
At the Autumn Equinox a spiders web in the mist has caught the morning dew.
The web is now bejewelled with dew pearls. I love the way water which is usually formless when caught in suspension becomes spherical creating little upside down mirrors reflecting the light.
Stone altar for placing offerings to the gods, elemental deities and local spirits, as part of living harmoniously with all sentient beings, seen and invisible, form and formless, gods and asuras, a pay-it-forward karmic actions.
Picture taken from Dikubu Strawberry restaurant and camping ️ ground, at the lakeshores of Lake Beratan, Bedugul highlands, North Bali, Indonesia.
Raj Ghat, Varanasi, India
Shiva : "The Auspicious One", also known as Parameshwara(the Supreme God), Mahadeva, Mahesh ("Great God") or Bholenath ("Simple Lord"), is a popular Hindu deity and considered as the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in Hinduism.
Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God, such as one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.
Shiva is usually worshiped in the an iconic form of Lingam. Shiva of the highest level is limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. However, Shiva also has many benevolent and fearsome forms. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya or as the Cosmic Dancer. In fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons.
The most recognizable iconographical attributes of the god are a third eye on his forehead, a snake around his neck, the crescent moon adorning and the river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument.
Shiva as we know him today shares features with the Vedic god Rudra. Historians have also suggested that worship of Shiva existed in pre-Vedic times.
"There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao."
Lao Tse, Tao Te Ching
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
― Bruce Lee
WORD!
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. ב וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם. ג וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר. ד וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. ה וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד.
Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
©2010 RESilU | Please don't use this image without my explicit permission.
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[...] Where there is no form, there is no emptiness (Śūnyatā ), because emptiness is formless, it has no self, no individuality, and is therefore always connected to Form.
Form is emptiness and emptiness is Form.
If emptiness would be something limited, something resisters end, something impure, in the sense that allows others to mingle with it, it would never with the form or in the form or appear as Form itself.
It is like a mirror that is blank and nothing out of itself may reflect that mirrors but all that appears before you. Emptiness is like a crystal, and crystal clear and transparent: it does not have its own colour, but can be any colour. [...]
Wo es keine Form gibt, gibt es auch keine Leere (sunyata), denn Leere ist Formlosigkeit, sie hat keine Selbstheit, keine Individualität, und ist daher immer mit Form verbunden Form ist Leere und Leere ist Form.
Wenn Leere etwas Begrenztes wäre, etwas Widerstandleistendes, etwas Unreines, in dem Sinn, dass es anderen erlaubt, sich mit ihm zu vermischen, würde sie niemals mit der Form oder in der Form oder als Form selber erscheinen.
Sie gleicht einem Spiegel, der leer ist und nichts aus sich selber spiegeln kann, der aber alles spiegelt, was vor einem erscheint. Leere gleicht einem Kristall, durch und durch glasklar und durchscheinend: er hat keine eigene Farbe, kann aber jede Farbe annehmen.
___________________________________________________________________________
Wikipedia: Emptiness
___________________________________________________________________________
|| Source: D.T.Suzuki "Wesen und Sinn des Buddhismus" "Ur-Erfahrung und Ur-Wissen" - Hua-Yen-Philosophie || Wikipedia: D. T. Suzuki ||
Chaos (Greek ; in English pronounced /ˈkeɪ.ɒs/) in Greek mythology and cosmology referred to a gap or abyss at the beginning of the world, or more generally the initial, formless state of the universe.
Mathematically, chaos refers to a very specific kind of unpredictability: deterministic behavior that is very sensitive to its initial conditions. In other words, infinitesimal variations in initial conditions for a chaotic dynamic system lead to large variations in behavior.
Chaotic systems consequently appear disordered and random. However, they are actually deterministic systems governed by physical or mathematical laws, and so are completely predictable given perfect knowledge of the initial conditions. In other words, a chaotic system will always exhibit the same behavior when seeded with the same initial conditions - there is no inherent randomness in this regard. However, such perfect knowledge is never attainable in real life; slight errors are intrinsic to any physical measurement. In a chaotic system, these slight errors will give rise to results which differ wildly from the correct result. A commonly used example is weather forecasting, which is only possible up to about a week ahead, despite theoretically being perfectly possible at any level.
I find the secret to the initial spark of life in this theory. The illustration above illustrates this in a stylized way, but the image was created using the principals outlined above.
Thanks to Don Briggs. He is a very talented photographer and a very imaginative and creative artist. It was his image HERE that inspired me to investigate this program and to create artistic images from it. I added the lens flare in Photoshop, and this detail was taken from Don's image as well. Thanks Don. : )
Please take some time to go check out Don's photostream. : ). Tell him I said "Hi!". : )
Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.
A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.
Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple's design in Gupta architecture reflects India's influence on the region. It also depicts the gupta style from India and shows influence of Buddhism as well as Hinduism. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. WIKIPEDIA
“Una de las grandes contradicciones de la naturaleza humana es que únicamente valoramos las cosas una vez que se vuelven escasas. [...] Apreciamos el valor del agua cuando el pozo se ha secado. Y los pozos no sólo están secándose en las regiones tradicionales con tendencia a las sequías, sino también en zonas que no asociamos tradicionalmente con escaseces de agua.”
Elizabeth Dowdeswell, secretaria general adjunta de las Naciones Unidas.
For me this picture is about hope and liberation. It is when you feel like you are suffocating... sinking... drowning, as though something is weighing you down, and then, sooner or later, you rediscover the light. At first it is dim and far away, but the closer you get the brighter it becomes. Maybe it comes in the form of a person, an animal or a place, or maybe it is formless. For me it's usually nature. No-matter what situation I find myself in, nothing can comfort me like being in the wilderness with the trees and the dirt and the mountains, where everything is peaceful and simple. So this is about the feeling of relief, when that weight suddenly lifts, when you can breath easily again.
Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.
The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). During the journey, the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.
"Having access to that formless realm is truly liberating. It frees you from bondage to form and identification with form. It is life in its undifferentiated state prior to its fragmentation into multiplicity. We may call it the Unmanifested, the invisible Source of all things, the Being within all beings. It is a realm of deep stillness and peace, but also of joy and intense aliveness. Whenever you are present, you become "transparent" to some extent to the light, the pure consciousness that emanates from this Source. You also realize that the light is not separate from who you are but constitutes your very essence.
...
Beyond the beauty of external forms, there is more here: something that cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present."
~ Eckhart Tolle
" Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it into a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend"
- Bruce Lee
SB-600 to the left of the camera.
Shuvo Bijaya (i.e. Happy Dassera) to you all.
Play with Vermilion on Bijaya Dashami Day - Durga Puja 2013 of our South Madras Cultural Association.
Bengalis celebrated Vijayadashami on Monday with farewell rituals and puja followed by exchanging 'Shubho Bijoya' festive greetings. "On this day, most of us feel sad as Durga Maa returns to her husband Shiva in heaven. However, we give her a sweet send-off with roshogullas, sandesh and mishti doi and share the same with our friends and family," said a senior Bengali Lady. Like all Bengalis, her day began with the traditional puja, followed by exchanging 'Shubho Bijoya' meeting family and friends over sweets and salty snacks in the evening.
Women, dressed in traditional saris and faces smeared with vermillion is a familiar sight on the last day of Durgapuja. After the four days of celebration comes Vijaya Dasami, when married women apply vermillion or sindoor on the forehead of the goddess and then indulge in 'Sindoor Khela' by applying vermillion on each other's forehead. "We apply vermillion on the Devi and bring back the same from her forehead for the wellbeing of our husbands," this is the belief. Mythologically, red is a colour associated with power while vermillion is considered to be a symbol of the female energy. Parvati and Sati, the epitome of the ideal wives, were supposed to have applied sindoor on their hair.
Source subject to modification - timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/navi-mumbai/Navi-Mumbai-...
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Durga, in Sanskrit means - She who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach. Goddess Durga is a form of Sakti worshiped for her gracious as well as terrifying aspect. Mother of the Universe, she represents the infinite power of the universe and is a symbol of a female dynamism. The manifestation of Goddess Durga is said to emerge from Her formless essence and the two are inseparable.
The celebrations of Durga puja have references in Indian literature from the 12th century. Earlier the festival was performed only by the rich and powerful people like kings and feudal lords, but today the entire community celebrates Durga Puja.
Celebrated in month of Ashwin of the Hindu calendar (September / October), Goddess Durga (also referred to as "Maa Durga") is worshipped along with her four children - Kartik (The Protector), Ganesh (who symolizes prosperity), Lakshmi (who symbolizes wealth) and Saraswati (who symbolizes knowledge). Her four children complete the manifestation of Goddess Durga.
On the last day of the ten days of the puja, Goddess Durga who represents ‘shakti’ or power, kills the demon Mahishasura and thereby reinstates the triumph of good over evil.
The tenth day, Vijaya Dasami, marks the triumphant ovation of the soul at having attained liberation while living in this world, through the descent of knowledge by the Grace of Goddess Saraswati. The soul rests in his own Supreme Self or Satchidananda Brahman. This day celebrates the victory, the achievement of the goal. The banner of victory flies aloft. Lo! I am He! I am He!
It is on this day, the last and the tenth day, these pictures were taken in Chennai during / after the traditional ritual to bid a goodbye.
Source : Internet.
I'm sorry to post this, it's the first time I make a public complaint but I'd like to know if I'm the only one that have had this problem.
I just got this Momoko and I was so full of expectations. She is very beautiful, great concept, dress and colors but the hair? The fiber used is the worst ever seen (like wud006) but why so few? There are holes everywhere! And why they are so roughly curled? The curls are formless and tangled, and this is even more noticeable because of the very sparse hair. I hope to fix them but for now I can say they're among the worst hair I've ever seen on a Momoko... Definitely we deserve at least decent hair.
And why her nose is so grey? :(
But... I must admit despite the flaws I love her anyway. ^_^
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Mi dispiace postare ciò, è la prima volta che faccio una lamentela pubblica ma mi piacerebbe sapere se sono l'unica ad aver avuto questo problema.
Ho appena ricevuto questa Momoko ed ero così piena di aspettative! lei è molto bella, ottimo concept, abito, colori, ma i capelli? La fibra usata è la peggiore che abbia mai visto (tipo quella della WUD006) ma perchè i capelli sono così pochi? Ci sono buchi ovunque! E perchè sono arricciati così approssimativamente? I ricci sono informi e aggrovigliati, e questo si nota ancora di più essendo i capelli molto radi. Spero di sistemarli ma per adesso posso dire che sono tra i capelli peggiori che abbia mai visto su una Momoko... Decisamente meritiamo capelli almeno decenti.
E perchè il suo naso è così grigio? :(
Però... devo ammettere che nonostante i difetti la amo comunque. ^_^
Shot from my Home Temple, Tamilnadu,
First time after my marriage, we both went our temple on Deepavali day.
Ayyanar (Tamil: ஐயனார் or அய்யனார்) is a regional Tamil male deity who is popular among the rural social groups of South India, specifically Tamil Nadu. In the old Tamil literature he is mentioned as Sathanar and in Vedic stories, Ayyanar is considered as one of the several local manifestations of Sastha. The deity is also popular among vast majority of South Indian & Sri Lankan (read Dravidian) Hindus and some Buddhists in Sri Lanka. He, along with his two female consort deities, is the central deity surrounded by 21 associate folk deities identified as the Kaval Deivam (guardian angel). Ayyanar temples are found in almost every minority Tamil village in Sri Lanka.
Ancient tradition
In ancient Tamilakam, people venerated the Veerargal and had the formless stones (Veera Kal or Veerakkal) erected in memory of these fallen warriors or any person who sacrificed his life for a good cause such as protection of welfare of the society or community. The Veera kal that have fully morphed into cultic shrines can be found across South India and especially Tamil Nadu.
This has slowly transformed into the Ayyan or Saathan (Tamil for Sanskrit sasthan) worship system with a symbolic horse riding along with the venerated departed soul. Later transformed into the Vedic phase, Ayyanar has been depicted with two consorts - Poorna and Pushkala. Ayyanar is believed to protect the poor and ensure justice and self-discipline among its believers. Thus there are several local manifestations of Ayyanar along with two consorts in several villages near thick forests and water reservoirs each having its own folk tale.
The unique and inspiring popularity of the system is that the Ayyanar worship system provides an opportunity to its mass followers to trace their place of origin, ancestral roots, native culture and character and clan lineage even after several generations. Such family clan followers of Ayyanar worship system install new Ayyanar worship centres in sacred groves (called as Sastha kavu in Kerala and Kanyakumari districts and vanams or paimbozhil in Tamilnadu) in new locations with the permission obtained from the native Ayyanar deity through an oracle system during the Annual mass conventions.
Worship
Large sculpture of Ayyanar riding a horse at a village shrine. Ramanathapuram District, Tamil NaduAyyanar or Sathanar worship is a very ancient ancestral clan-based worship system linked to nature and fertility worship. The festivals of Ayyanars are celebrated in Sacred Groves during spring season by all the related clan. Ayyanar shrines are usually located at the peripheries or boundaries of rural villages and the deity is seen riding a horse with a sword. Weapons such as a trident or a lance are also associated with the shrine. Most officiating priests are non-Brahmins and derive from local lineages that had initiated the cult centers generations ago.
The worship pattern is non-agamic and is associated with sacrificial offerings of pure vegetarian food. However animals such as chicken and goats are offered to few of the selected 21 associate deities (Kaval deivangal) such as Karuppa samy, Sudalai Maadan samy and some other Amman deities located within Ayyanar temple for favors. In return the local priest might offer holy flowers or Veeputhi (holy ash) to the worshippers. Folk Tales like Koothhu and Folk arts like Villupattu are enacted to bring out the message of the Ayyanar folk story to one and all.
In South India, Aiyanar God worshipped in open grounds surrounded by trees holds an important position in the local villages because of the values installed in family and community life. Aiyanar System is the base for forming large family clan associations and maintaining family values in rural areas.
Aiyanar worship represents a non-learned, non-Vedic form of worship. Often community life and family values are valued than individualist life mode. So a large number of gods at least 61 divine servant agents are present along with at least 18 to 21 associate deities. A family life or community life cannot be smooth and happy only if there is place to accept and accommodate every kind of people.
But with the divine nature, Often Aiynar is pictured riding on a white horse, fighting against demons and evil gods that are threatening the village.
An Aiyanar temple, various clay figure and idols reflects the social hierarchy which exists in the villages of Tamil Nadu. The gods are ranked according to the social and economical hierarchy in the village, and as in social life, the highest ranking gods are vegetarian, whereas the lower ranking ones are non-vegetarian. A temple is often not a building, but one or more figures giving importance to each and every ancestral local god who are collections of people belonging to various community groups.
Owing to assimilation and syncretism, Sinhalese Buddhist people of Sri Lanka also venerate Ayyanar, calling him Ayyanayake.
I'm available for photo shoots & commissioned work:
Personal & Commercial Portfolios, Kids and Infant Photography,
Editorial work, Photomanipulation, Book covers, Promotional materials.
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This is the great opportunity
of having
a human form
because in this form
you may come to know
the formless
go beyond
the sorrows of this world
you are freedom itself
your nature is eternal
know this
and be happy
Mooji
Digital Art based on own photography and textures
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com.
Intricate Japanese ornamental design elements from our own original woodblock print collection "Yatsuo no Tsubaki" (1860–1869) by Taguchi Tomoki.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/board/525422/yatsuo-no-tsubaki-taguchi-t...
Three primordial shapes are responsible for transforming the un-menifested(formless) into the entire manifested(formed) world. Here is in this image third shape is represented as live being(kid).
You spread out the skies over empty space, Said "let there be light"
Into a dark and formless world Your light was born..
You spread out Your arms over empty hearts, Said "let there be light"
Into a dark and hopeless world Your Son was born... Wonderful Maker by Jeremy Camp
Copyright© 2008 Kamoteus/RonMiguel RN
This image is protected under the United States and International Copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without written permission.
Nowhere, Beloved, will world be but within us. Our life
passes in transformation. And the external
shrinks into less and less. Where once an enduring house was,
now a cerebral structure crosses our path, completely
belonging to the realm of concepts, as though it still stood in the brain.
Our age has built itself vast reservoirs of power,
formless as the straining energy that it wrests from the earth. Temples are no longer known. It is we who secretly save up
these extravagances of the heart. Where one of them still survives,
a Thing that was formerly prayed to, worshipped, knelt before —
just as it is, it passes into the invisible world.
–––– Rilke, from The Seventh Duino Elegy
This position would be especially logical if one believed that the fluids themselves were being recycled to nourish body tissues.The future has always been surprising. The body is loaded with 100% optimism. It’s just like you don’t have any timeTaoist alchemy and Kundalini yoga, in their respective ways, are religious traditions based on an imperative of rational, yet creative,experimentation with the relationship of the internal body to objects in the outside world, and the relationship of human physical energy with the abstracted realms of religious symbolism and ontological beliefs. Both systems present a picture which is not entirely comprehensive by the methods and assumptions of modern science. Yet these types of traditions may have something useful to teach us, if we can analyze their beliefs and practices within the historical and cultural context in an effort to understand them as they were, and as they are, within their individual cultural framework. Scientific methods such as neurobiology can give us some insight into the basic underlying causes of human experience, yet will never be able to fully explain the phenomenological idiosyncrasies of religious ritual. With this in mind, we can apply the knowledge of modern science to the study of ancient religious in a responsible and realistic way. Taoist and Tantric sexual practices conserve and utilize the precious energy within the genital fluids. The vital forces energies that sustain life are ojas and prana. One particular type of prana is kundalini or shakti. The Taoist equivalent is ching. By murmuring this energy, life is enriched and preserved. By squandering it, health suffers and death results, Yogys believe kundalini energy is coiled up like a serpent at the base of the spine to the pineal gland in the brain, and enlightenment is attained. The kundalini energy flows through the chakras, energy centers in your subtle body related to the endocrine glands. The endocrine glands are fed by your body’s central heating system, the sexual center. If that center is weak, you entire system is weak. If that center is functioning optimally, the body can survive indefinitely. Taoist and Tantric techniques strengthen the sexual chakra. Their methods conserve its precious fluids and also pump these nourishing fluids back into the body, directing them to the endocrine glands. This technique stimulates the production of ojas and soma. The only caution about Taoist and Tantric sexual practices is the following: because of the tradition of patriarchal oppression, many of theses practices are designed solely for the male to attain immortality, often at the expense of young, ignorant, inexperienced girls, whose vitality {shakti } is drained from their bodies. The male is cautioned to never let semen leave his body, to practice coitus reservatus, stopping short of ejaculation. Yet he is advised to bring his partner to orgasm repeatedly. With his sperm held in check and his vital energy pumping back into his system continually, he invigorates and rejuvenates his body. Also pumping the energy and fluids of the female into his body at the time of her climax, he obtains her vitality as well. Practitioners are advised to engage in this female-draining activity a dozen or more times a day with several 14-to 19 year old virgins. Innocent females are victims of this crime against their health, driving them to early grave.
On other hand, when both partners ate fully knowledgeable and experienced in Taoist or Tantric sexual practices, a mutually beneficial, enriching, elevating relationship can growth is only possible with mutual respect, love, honesty, commitment, and trust. When partners recognize and worship each other as divines beings, there can be an exchange of divine energy in both body and Spirit.How does this move in the body? If we cannot see it, does it really exist? Science is only just getting a few tests going that prove energy is in the body and around it. Is it real what the Ancient wisdoms teach us? Can it guide us to oneness and conscious awakening?
It has been a long road for those in the energy field of health getting the message across to the general population that energy is everywhere, particularly in the body. With proof, barriers seem a lot easier to free up. Oriental medicine and Ayurvedic medicine are the clearest and longest standing observational sciences that describe and fully believe that energy exists as long as 5000 years ago. Both have movement medicine in the forms of Yoga and Qigong.
As I already discussed in the previous article Bring the energy home, there is a cycle called the Microcosmic cycle which when experienced connects the front and back energy meridians. Also called the Governing and Conception channels, in Oriental medicine a further 12 major channels exist that run up and down the body through the limbs, arms and legs (6 Yin and 6 Yang).These energies connect to the sun (yang) and moon (yin) influences. Predominantly yang energy in the morning and more yin energies in the afternoon, changing again after midnight. Then more yang energies developing until we awake and the body starts to function optimally again in the awakened state.The logograph 氣 is read with two Chinese pronunciations, the usual qì 氣 "air; vital energy" and the rare archaic xì 氣 "to present food" (later disambiguated with 餼). Pronunciations of 氣 in modern varieties of Chinese with standardized IPA equivalents include: Standard Chinese qì /t͡ɕʰi⁵¹/, Wu Chinese qi /t͡ɕʰi³⁴/, Southern Min khì /kʰi²¹/, Eastern Min ké /kʰɛi²¹³/, Standard Cantonese hei3 /hei̯³³/, and Hakka Chinese hi /hi⁵⁵/. Pronunciations of 氣 in Sino-Xenic borrowings include: Japanese ki, Korean gi, and Vietnamese khi. Reconstructions of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 氣 standardized to IPA transcription include: /kʰe̯iH/ (Bernard Karlgren), /kʰĭəiH/ (Wang Li), /kʰiəiH/ (Li Rong), /kʰɨjH/ (Edwin Pulleyblank), and /kʰɨiH/ (Zhengzhang Shangfang). Reconstructions of the Old Chinese pronunciation of 氣 standardized to IPA transcription include: /*kʰɯds/ (Zhengzhang Shangfang) and /*C.qʰəp-s/ (William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart). The etymology of qì interconnects with Kharia kʰis "anger", Sora kissa "move with great effort", Khmer kʰɛs "strive after; endeavor", and Gyalrongic kʰɐs "anger".The earliest texts that speak of qi give some indications of how the concept developed. In the Analects of Confucius qi could mean "breath". Combining it with the Chinese word for blood (making 血氣, xue–qi, blood and breath), the concept could be used to account for motivational characteristics:
The [morally] noble man guards himself against 3 things. When he is young, his xue–qi has not yet stabilized, so he guards himself against sexual passion. When he reaches his prime, his xue–qi is not easily subdued, so he guards himself against combativeness. When he reaches old age, his xue–qi is already depleted, so he guards himself against acquisitiveness.— Confucius, Analects, 16:7
The philosopher Mozi used the word qi to refer to noxious vapors that would in eventually arise from a corpse were it not buried at a sufficient depth. He reported that early civilized humans learned how to live in houses to protect their qi from the moisture that troubled them when they lived in caves. He also associated maintaining one's qi with providing oneself with adequate nutrition. In regard to another kind of qi, he recorded how some people performed a kind of prognostication by observing qi (clouds) in the sky. Mencius described a kind of qi that might be characterized as an individual's vital energies. This qi was necessary to activity and it could be controlled by a well-integrated willpower.page needed] When properly nurtured, this qi was said to be capable of extending beyond the human body to reach throughout the universe. It could also be augmented by means of careful exercise of one's moral capacities.[14] On the other hand, the qi of an individual could be degraded by adverse external forces that succeed in operating on that individual. Living things were not the only things believed to have qi. Zhuangzi indicated that wind is the qi of the Earth.Moreover, cosmic yin and yang "are the greatest of qi".He described qi as "issuing forth" and creating profound effects.[15] He also said "Human beings are born [because of] the accumulation of qi. When it accumulates there is life. When it dissipates there is death... There is one qi that connects and pervades everything in the world." Another passage traces life to intercourse between Heaven and Earth: "The highest Yin is the most restrained. The highest Yang is the most exuberant. The restrained comes forth from Heaven. The exuberant issues forth from Earth. The two intertwine and penetrate forming a harmony, and [as a result] things are born." The Guanzi essay Neiye (Inward Training) is the oldest received writing on the subject of the cultivation of vapor [qi] and meditation techniques. The essay was probably composed at the Jixia Academy in Qi in the late fourth century B.C. Xun Zi, another Confucian scholar of the Jixia Academy, followed in later years. At 9:69/127, Xun Zi says, "Fire and water have qi but do not have life. Grasses and trees have life but do not have perceptivity. Fowl and beasts have perceptivity but do not have yi (sense of right and wrong, duty, justice). Men have qi, life, perceptivity, and yi." Chinese people at such an early time had no concept of radiant energy, but they were aware that one can be heated by a campfire from a distance away from the fire. They accounted for this phenomenon by claiming "qi" radiated from fire. At 18:62/122, he also uses "qi" to refer to the vital forces of the body that decline with advanced age. Among the animals, the gibbon and the crane were considered experts at inhaling the qi. The Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu (ca. 150 BC) wrote in Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals:[17] "The gibbon resembles a macaque, but he is larger, and his color is black. His forearms being long, he lives eight hundred years, because he is expert in controlling his breathing." ("猿似猴。大而黑。長前臂。所以壽八百。好引氣也。") Later, the syncretic text assembled under the direction of Liu An, the Huai Nan Zi, or "Masters of Huainan", has a passage that presages most of what is given greater detail by the Neo-Confucians: Heaven (seen here as the ultimate source of all being) falls (duo 墮, i.e., descends into proto-immanence) as the formless. Fleeting, fluttering, penetrating, amorphous it is, and so it is called the Supreme Luminary. The dao begins in the Void Brightening. The Void Brightening produces the universe (yu–zhou). The universe produces qi. Qi has bounds. The clear, yang [qi] was ethereal and so formed heaven. The heavy, turbid [qi] was congealed and impeded and so formed earth. The conjunction of the clear, yang [qi] was fluid and easy. The conjunction of the heavy, turbid [qi] was strained and difficult. So heaven was formed first and earth was made fast later. The pervading essence (xi–jing) of heaven and earth becomes yin and yang. The concentrated (zhuan) essences of yin and yang become the four seasons. The dispersed (san) essences of the four seasons become the myriad creatures. The hot qi of yang in accumulating produces fire. The essence (jing) of the fire-qi becomes the sun. The cold qi of yin in accumulating produces water. The essence of the water-qi becomes the moon. The essences produced by coitus (yin) of the sun and moon become the stars and celestial markpoints (chen, planets).— Huai-nan-zi, 3:1a/19 Characters In Yoga they talk of Ida and Pingala channels and a central channel called Sushumna with very many Nadis connecting our energy back to our Chakras. This Kundalini shakti energy moving systematically when ready to the top most Chakra Sahasara and then connects to the Supreme shiva and universe.
This energy is also affected by our emotions, the food we eat, and how we move this energy i.e. with Qigong and Yoga and how well we relax. Learning these skills help develop and refine this energy and maintain a storage where we can then start to develop longevity and preserve our inherited energy from our family.We are also affected energetically by our environment, particularly magnetic waves, microwaves sonic waves, radio waves, TV signals, mobile phones and so on. The long term effect has not been fully understood, our body’s energy is at the mercy of these frequencies unless we learn energy techniques to take control of these movements and redirect the flow. Managing our bodies and its needs sometimes can feel overwhelming but with the correct help and attitude we can soon feel the benefits of repeated Qi flow and awakened consciousness.
Yoga also uses movement to connect ourselves to the universe. We can learn so much from these practices about our bodies and how to get into a flow that benefits mind, body, and spirit. My experience when studying Kundalini Yoga was a very powerful one. Kundalini is known as the mother Yoga and when followed by its principles and ancient wisdom, allows for natural movement of the Kundalini. This is a simple but effective Yoga, often postures being held and breath sequences and Bhandas used to help move energy. Meditations and Mantras with Mudras further help reconnect the spirit and open us to the universal oneness. Both Qigong and Yoga have deep understanding of our energetic connections and make use of techniques and principles that guide us safely back to our spiritual home and beyond. Having studied and experienced both of these models extensively, I feel privileged to have great teachers and the opportunity to pass onto others these great energy healersIn Hindu philosophy including yoga, Indian medicine, and martial arts, Prana (प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for "life force" or "vital principle")[1] comprises all cosmic energy, permeating the Universe on all levels. Prana is often referred to as the "life force" or "life energy".[not verified in body] It also includes energies present in inanimate objects.[not verified in body] In the Hindu literature, prana is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements of the Universe. This life energy has been vividly invoked and described in the ancient Vedas and Upanishads.[not verified in body. In living beings, this universal energy is considered responsible for all bodily functions through five types of prana, collectively known as the five vāyus. Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine all describe praṇā vāyu as the basic vāyu from which all the other vāyus arise. Indologist Georg Feuerstein explains, "The Chinese call it chi, the Polynesians mana, the Amerindians orenda, and the ancient Germans od. It is an all-pervasive 'organic' The ancient concept of prana is described in many early Hindu texts, including Upanishads and Vedas. One of the earliest references to prana is from the 3,000-year-old Chandogya Upanishad, but many other Upanishads also make use of the concept, including the Katha, Mundaka and Prasna Upanishads. The concept is elaborated upon in great detail in the practices and literature of haṭha yoga, tantra,and Ayurveda. Prana is typically divided into multiple constituent parts, in particular when concerned with the human body. While not all early sources agree on the names or number of these subdivisions, the most common list from the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, Ayurvedic and Yogic sources includes five, often divided into further subcategories.This list includes: Prana (inward moving energy), apana (outward moving energy), vyana (circulation of energy), udana (energy of the head and throat), and samana (digestion and assimilation).[citation needed] Early mention of specific pranas often emphasized prāṇa, apāna and vyāna as "the three breaths". This can be seen in the proto-yogic traditions of the Vratyas among others.[6]:104 Texts like the Vaikānasasmārta utilized the five pranas as an internalization of the five sacrificial fires of a panchagni homa ceremony.[6]:111–112 Vāyus
Poren Huang (Chinese: 黃柏仁, born 1970), a Taiwanese sculptor, was born in Taichung, located in central Taiwan. His grandfather and parents engaged in wood carving business.During the 1970s, Poren Huang's father, Mingde Huang, had a successful wood carving industry and huge export volume. As a major wood carving factory in Taiwan,the factory employed more than 100 craftsmen to produce wood handicrafts during peak seasons. Mingde Huang expected his son Poren Huang to inherit the family business, but Poren Huang preferred artistic creation to wood handicraft production, resulting in years of differences between the father and son. In 2005, Poren Huang fully expressed his ideas through his series of works, The Dog's Notes. Although he and his father held different viewpoints, he highly values family interaction. He focused on mending his family relationship before pursuing his personal ambition, and some of his works in The Dog's Notes strongly convey enlightenment and morality.After World War II, with the recovery of the global economy, prosperity and focus on human rights, the hard work of the previous generation is often reciprocated with the disregard, self-centeredness, mockery and impiety of the next generation. In The Dog's Notes, Poren Huang added the quality of loyalty and kindness to purify the human heart and create positive influence.Using the dog as a creative starting point, each piece of work is suggestive of the "human". About 10% to 90% of the works borrow from the dog to explore various human behaviors. Modern people generally feel kindly toward dogs because of their ability to soothe. Therefore, Poren Huang uses the dog as his creative theme to convey positive traits such as self-confidence, courage, loyalty or innocence, and to provoke in people deeper thoughts as they come in contact with his work. Many people are first attracted by the amusing forms; however, after a period of contact and interaction with the pieces, they seem to sense the deeper significance and remain inspired by positive ideas and thoughts. There are primarily two types of animals that appear in The Dog's Notes, the dog and the panda. They share a common characteristic of being humanized. These animals do not appear completely animal-like under Poren Huang's sculpting, but instead, they appear to have the scent of a human. That is why viewers tend to stand in front of the artwork and stare for quite a long time, unwittingly; perhaps it is because they did not get an affirmative answer as to whether the artwork is human or animal? When the dog and the panda enter the human's environment, they naturally learn to cohabitate with humans. They lose the wild nature of being wild animals, and become more humanized. People are the same way. Poren Huang wishes that humans can be more inspired by the dogs, and to learn the positive characters found in dogs, such as innocence, loyalty, kindness, bravery, and being passionate. Much like the Chinese proverb, "The son does not despise the mother for being ugly, and the dog does not blame the owner for being poor"; the dog will not despite the owner, and will not leave the owner, instead he will spend the rest of his life by his owner's side. Humans, on the other hand are different. They might look down on others or alienate others. They might even become disrespectful toward parents. The selfishness of humans causes wars and unrest in the world. Therefore, Poren Huang is not just creating artworks of animals, but instead, he is making his sculptures more humanized, so that the viewers can naturally reflect and be inspired. In addition, Poren Huang's humanized works of art also have a little bit of the "Oriental Literati" essence. Although these artworks will have various emotions, but they are never too intense, and are never over the top. Just like Ang Lee, Xi Jinping, Yo-Yo Ma, Jeremy Lin, as well as other generally well-known Chinese, whose personalities are perhaps the same way, which is gentle and refined, and with the modesty of a gentleman. Much like the Eastern literai who are well read of poetry and literature, their emotions are not easily shown; they are more restrained, and are full of character and depth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poren_Huang
Francois Gachon is an advertising agent of the By Chance agency and a watercolourist graduated from the school of applied arts, he painted this subtle body that I have inlaid in the photo. Poren Huang considered this collage to be very artistic.The wallpaper is a painting by Paul Gauguin named Delightful Land... Te nave nave nave nave fenua, 1892
"The best metaphor I know for being a fiction writer...describes a book-in-progress as a kind of hideously damaged infant that follows the writer around, forever crawling after the writer...hideously defective, hydrocephalic and noseless and flipper-armed and incontinent and dribbling cerebrospinal fluid out of its mouth as it mewls and blurbles and cries out to the writer, wanting love, wanting the very thing its hideousness guarantees it'll get: the writer's complete attention. The damaged-infant trope is perfect because it captures the mix of repulsion and love the fiction writer feels for something he's working on." - David Foster Wallace, Both Flesh and Not
David Foster Wallace describes here the relationship that I suspect most creative people who really care about what they're doing have with their work. The analogy weakens a little when applied to photography, but I felt a deep sympathy and understanding of this situation when I read these words.
I've been here in Hong Kong for a week, and in that time I've hardly taken any photographs which please me. I've been too stupid and too narrow-minded to see, too slow or just off the mark in photographing the things I have seen. Somewhere between my eyes and my brain and my hand and the camera, the scenes became deformed caricatures of the beautiful photographs I thought they would be, wanted them to be. Either that or they're the same as something I've done already, probably several times. After days of this, it's so easy to convince yourself that you've lost it - your mojo, passion, love, skill - if you ever had it: that your best work is in the past, that your ability to see and feel is dead, that you're incompetent, pathetic, a fraud and a hypocrite.
This morning I took my dejection onto the top deck of a bus and saw that the front seats were taken. I sighed, sat in the nearest available seat and resigned myself to the probability of another journey of failing to translate the beautiful forms and colours and expressions and moments that pass by the window into a worthy photograph. I considered consigning the camera to my bag and not even bothering, but it never gets so bad that I ever do. The damaged-infant metaphor works well here: to leave my camera at home or in a bag would arouse the same anxiety as if I left my damaged child at home, or the same guilt had I stuffed her in a bag out of sight.
Only a few minutes into the journey, the clouds literally parted and the window I'd been staring blankly out of blushed and came alive with reflections and vivid colours. The ever-changing scenes on a small area of window in front of me became like a beautiful and wildly entertaining moving puzzle: the "solid" scene outside combined with reflections of within the bus, reflections of the street on the other side of the bus, reflections in the windows of other buses within those. The man sitting directly in front of me meant that I had to shoot down a pipe of space four inches in diameter which ran just beside his neck and ear. He must have been bewildered by the hundreds of clicks I made throughout the hour, all at the same small area of the window, but I didn't ever take the camera away from my face to find out. I spent the journey with it stuck there, swelling with a deeper sense of fulfillment than I have since arriving here. I could have sat on that bus all day.
This photograph, of the man sitting in front of the man who was sitting in front of me, is not the best example of what I've described, of the polyphony of visuals that came together in that window, but it is my favourite from the trip. I haven't done it justice, but when I pulled the focus wheel back and it revealed itself in the viewfinder, I was convinced it was one of the most gorgeous images I'd ever seen there.
The warm glow of producing a beautiful "child" lasts only a day before it begins to fade, but with each cycle something new can be gained. What I've learned today has to do with the fact that this might not have happened if I had been able to sit in the seat I wanted. My best work as a photographer is always done when I have been able to see like it was the first time. This is of course easier in new places with new faces but, regardless, the key is to empty the mind of preconceived desires or expectations and to thereby be open to fresh views. My problem this past week has been thinking that I know what I want to photograph, or dismissing something because I think I will know what it will look like photographed. I don't. I never do; that's precisely why I take photographs! To quote Bruce Lee, "It is like a finger, pointing away to the moon: concentrate on the finger, and you will miss all that heavenly glory." I'm reminded of some more words, but I forget who wrote them: "The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see." I've lately been a tourist in my life, rather than a traveller.
That last paragraph, like the last paragraph of my last piece of writing, reads to me as a bunch of cliches and platitudes. I'm sure it is, but what I may have learned, or am at least closer to learning, is not that those cliches are true - I already knew that - but how to take them from being distant truths at the back of the mind and bring them up front, to apply them in daily life. When asked which of his pieces of music was his best, Duke Ellington once answered "I haven't written it yet." This is the approach any creative person must take to her work. Every day, empty your mind and rediscover your love of doing what you do.
"Running water never goes stale, so you gotta just keep on flowing.
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water
Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
- Bruce Lee, Be Water, My Friend
Hong Kong, 2013.
untitled (small slip/fold)
2011_06_30
graphite on gesso over tempered glass
11 5/8" x 12 5/8" (29.5 x 32)cm
13 3/8" x 14 3/8" (33.97 x 36.51)cm, maple wood by the artist
Matt Niebuhr
West Branch Studio
all form born into the world comes from non-existence, only to leave form returning to non-existence. Birth-Life-Death... the law of the cosmos. If interested to read more on this piece, it is blogged at akirabeard.com/blog. LIfe if indestructibly lovely! Even at its 'worst', it truly is. Hope you feel this way to. enjoy world
Dark star crashes, pouring its light into ashes.
Reason tatters, the forces tear loose from the axis.
Searchlight casting for faults in the clouds of delusion.
Shall we go, you and I while we can
Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds?
Mirror shatters in formless reflections of matter.
Glass hand dissolving to ice petal flowers revolving.
Lady in velvet recedes in the nights of good-bye.
Shall we go, you and I while we can
Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds?
-Grateful Dead
Design 22 of 2011
"The third stage — the stage of artlessness, or spontaneous stage — occurs when, after years of serious and hard practice, the student realizes that after all, gung fu is nothing special. And instead of trying to impose on his mind, he adjusts himself to his opponent like water pressing on an earthen wall. It flows through the slightest crack. There is nothing to try to do but try to be purposeless and formless, like water. All of his classical techniques and standard styles are minimized, if not wiped out, and nothingness prevails. He is no longer confined."
~ Bruce Lee
Strobist: AB1600 with 60X30 softbox camera right. Reflector camera left. Triggered by Cybersync.
z\w\a\r\t\24 in HELVETE #3 - ' Bleeding Black Noise'
"The third issue of Helvete, “Bleeding Black Noise,” features artwork and essays that focus on the sonic aspects of Black Metal, specifically its interactions with Noise — the interruptions, creations, and destructions of signals. “Bleeding Black Noise” is a revision of Steven Parrino’s statement, “My relation between Rock and visual art: I will bleed for you.” In this issue, Rock is replaced with Noise, and Bleeding is celebrated as a release of the Black Noise — raw energy and formless potential. The essays and art portfolios included here experiment with sonic and conceptual feedback, as well as the way that black noise works through feedback as a process, resonating as background hums or drones, and cascading in foregrounded screams."
source: punctumbooks.com/titles/helvete-3-bleeding-black-noise/
Edited by Amelia Ishmael
Contributors Gast Bouschet, Faith Coloccia, Nadine Hilbert, Bagus Jalang, Alessandro Keegan, Max Kuiper, Kyle McGee, Susanne Pratt, Simon Pröll, Michaël Sellam, Nathan Snaza, Bert Stabler
Exhibition: Sector 2337 (Chicago, IL) February 12 - March 12, 2016.
My love for you knows no limits. It is timeless, spaceless, formless, unshakable and un breakable.
ODC :: Timeless
=Some Years Ago. The Moth Cave=
"You mean to tell me you've never had a birthday party?" Drury asked incredulously. He lowered the auto-parts catalogue, and stepped away from his desk, his face smeared with axel grease from his latest back-firing Mothmobile.
Julian shrugged passively. "My parents were Jehovah Witnesses. They didn't believe in material possessions or celebrations, or, holidays for that matter."
"Right, well, we're fixing that!" Drury declared, patting him on the back enthusiastically.
"That's... Not necessary," Julian protested.
"Nonsense," Drury scoffed. "You're a Misfit. And the Misfits, know how to party."
~-~
The party in question, took place at Crazy Quilt's, the nightclub owned by Paul Dekker, the Misfits' eccentric tailor who ran a series of profitable (albeit morally dubious) ventures on the side under the guise of the bar's namesake.
"Hmph, well, it's not quite the Gotham Royal," Morty Drake stated, turning his nose up at the venue, as the young waiter guided the party to their seats.
"Yeah, well, when you pay off your debts, you can pick the venue... You know you don't need a pheasant pantry, right?" Len Fiasco rolled his eyes.
"A life without luxury is a life not worth living my uptight friend," Drake educated him.
"It's fine. Really," Day assured the pair, as the trio sat down at a corner booth. Drury, Chuck and Blake were already sat down, each wearing paper crowns on their heads. Drake and Fiasco were now looking over the drinks menus.
"Here: happy birthday, Jules, I baked you a banana cake. It's even got dates!" Drury grinned, as he handed him a neatly wrapped parcel. Blake, was already stifling a laugh, to Julian's confusion who looked down at the loaf and frowned.
"I appreciate the... gesture, but I don't like dates," he stated glumly.
"Pfffft! What are you doing calling yourself the fucking Calendar Man then," Blake chortled, as he raised his hand, and smacked Day's buttocks.
"Ah. A joke, I see."
"Here, drinks are on me! I'll have a Porn Star Martini; Sex on the Beach for the pencil," Blake pulled the waiter close, a goofy grin on his face.
"Drury, you have to try this whiskey," Drake spoke, ensuring that Blake would not order on his behalf too. "A Macallan for the boy and I, good man. 72 years, if you could be so kind."
"We're on a budget," Drury blushed..
"There's no such thing as a "budget" when you're celebrating," Drake toasted.
"Château du Blanc, please," Day asked politely.
"I, uh, I'll have a creme soda," Chuck said.
With the waiter out of earshot, Fiasco leaned in. "What the hell is a 'Sex on the Beach?'" he scowled.
"Course, you wouldn't know," Blake teased. "That's a joke, put down the steak knife. It's a cocktail, man. Jeez."
While the two bickered, Chuck saw his chance. "Here. Happy birthday," Chuck smiled as he passed a red and white present over to Julian.
"Thank you, Charlie. I.... take it Garfield couldn't make it?" Day presumed.
"Ah, no. No. He has that thing with Sionis; Black Mask. Guy's a real up and comer. Looking for muscle. Thought it could be a pretty good gig for us," Drury explained.
"Sionis? That lowly drug lord in the narrows?" Drake pondered.
"You didn't say he was a drug dealer, Dru," Chuck stated, a little wary of it.
"This is what I never understood..." Julian rolled his eyes. "Why do you even entertain the notion of dealing with these... mobsters. You would think, that after Bressi-"
"Hey," Drury snapped. "Tony Bressi was a two-bit gangster who thought he was better than me and the other capes. Sionis isn't like that. He's got a mask. He's got a gimmick. This is good for us! We finally have a freak on the high table, and it'd be stupid not to capitalise on that. It's good business: Gar, Len and I had that arrangement with Twag and Falcone way back, and that was solid!"
"I heard Falcone had Twag whacked," Len noted.
"That... doesn't matter. It's all good news guys, honest!"
==The Gotham Royal==
East Hallway: Floor 24
Time until Detonation: 46 minutes
Drury and Chuck led the way; followed by Sharpe, Flannegan and Joey. Lastly, Gar walked slowly behind them. Needham and Mayo had taken the party guests in the opposite direction, and even with the bomb still in play, Gar's mind began to wander.
Intuitively, Drury picked up on this behaviour, and halted the group's progression. "What is it?" he asked, as he walked over to his friend.
Gar, kicked the ground. "It's nothing, I-"
"Uh, hello! Fearless Bomb, anyone?" Sharpe waved at the pair impatiently.
"I... I gotta go back for Jenna," Gar decided.
"You... What-?" Drury stammered, but it was no use; Gar had already turned back in the direction of the second group
"Uh, no, you don't," Sharpe chased after him. "Half an hour ago, she thought you were going to propose, and instead, you gave her a fucking homework assignment. This is real shit we're in, Lynns. Whatever happened to bros before -"
"You know, it's a wonder more people don't shoot you in the head," Rigger shook his head in disbelief.
"Most people miss," Sharpe winked cheekily.
Though his mind was made up, this gave Gar pause. "I didn't- She- She didn't actually think I was gonna propose, right?"
"Go," Chuck assured him. "We'll go on ahead. Just, uh, send her our best."
"Their best," Flannegan corrected him. "I don't know the broad."
As Gar departed, Drury's comms device began buzzing with static. Already agitated, he put his finger to his ear, and cursed loudly. "Blake, I swear to god-"
"Now, now. Let's not bring Him into this. This mess is all yours," a cold voice cut him off.
"Julian..." Drury said in shock, turning to Chuck, his face pale.
"Julian-?" Chuck stammered. "How did you get this frequency?" he wondered.
"I took the earpieces from Thomas and the Ten-Eyed Man. They're unharmed, don't worry. They're much more useful to me alive, after all."
As he spoke, a horrifying thought entered Chuck's mind. "Wait, if you've got their comms, that means-"
"I'm afraid so. For what it's worth, it seemed like a very good pla-"
Chuck ripped his earpiece out, tossed it to the ground and crushed it with his heel. In turn, the other Misfits did the same. "Actually, I think I might just put mine in my pocket," Joey reasoned. "Might be handy later."
"Right. Yeah... Probably shouldn't have smashed mine," Chuck admitted.
"Probably not, no... Guys, I hate to be the pessimist here, but... what now?" Joey wondered. "Jules knows we're coming."
"Gar could be walking straight into an ambush..." Drury shook his head.
"And we're all gonna be huffing crazy gas if you don't stop Day. You three need to get in that penthouse, we'll back up Lynns," Flannegan stated, gesturing at Sharpe. "Besides. I owe Krill a rematch," Flannegan smirked, as he and Sharpe strutted off.
As they prepared their next move, a fist chapped on the bathroom door opposite them. "Hello? Is it safe to come out yet?" Booker's nasally voice called out.
Chuck, Joey and Drury each looked at one another. "No."
==East Stairwell: Floor 19==
By the time Gar had caught up to them, Needham had already taken the grumbling ensemble of party guests down three flights of stairs; L-Ron was lagging behind, pushed forward by a rather high spirited Mayo; Franco was muttering obscenities to anyone who would listen (namely, Jenna, Rosso and Gaige) and the Great White Shark was whistling sea shanties.
"Jenna! Jenna!" Gar called out.
"What does that bacon-faced prick want now?" Franco whispered to Rosso.
"Hey, Eric, can you give us a minute?" Gar halted the group.
"Sure," Needham shrugged. "Let's keep moving, people," he ordered.
"Gar? What's wrong?" Jenna's brow furrowed. "Are you alright?"
Gar twiddled his thumbs, avoiding her eye-line. "No. I mean, I am, but listen; I know all this is crazy. You went to this party, I dunno, to escape the craziness of our lives. And instead there's a calendar killer, and a really irritating Brit. It's mad. But it's more bearable, I think, I hope, if we face it... Face it..."
"What is it, Gar?" she smiled expectantly.
His eyes bulged as he noticed a familiar figure take aim at him. "Duck!"
Before Jenna could react, Gar had pushed her to the ground, as a purple, ice-cold polka dot soared overhead, where he and Jenna had been standing just moments before: Krill, had found them.
"'Ello, lads. Heard ya were looking for me," he smirked, as he hurled a second dot at the stunned party guests; one Needham halted with a well-aimed web.
"Into the hallway!" Needham ordered the crowd, as he pushed White through the fire door.
Gar helped Jenna to her feet, and took a defensive stance against Krill. "Go with them," he instructed her, as he gestured half heartedly to Franco. "I got this," he added, thoroughly unsure of himself.
"Sure you do," Krill chuckled dismissively. "Sure you- Ow!"
Gar's brow furrowed; A white baton had struck Krill on the side of his head. Sharpe, was sliding down the banister towards them, while Flannegan followed along on foot.
"You... shouldn't have been able to hit me," Krill rubbed the fresh bump on his head.
"I'm full of surprises!" Sharpe grinned as he knocked Krill through the fire door with a flying kick: Despite Gar's best efforts, the fight had carried over into the hallway. Needham and Mayo had pushed most of the guests onwards, but Franco's ensemble had elected to stay behind and watch the fight.
"Away from the guests, you moron!" Gar snapped at Sharpe.
"Oops?" Sharpe apologised with mild sincerity.
Meanwhile, Flannegan was throwing scattered, furious punches at Krill, with none of them finding their mark; With every punch the Misfits threw his way, Krill simply redirected the blow to hit one of their own; Gar aimed an uppercut at Krill, and struck Flannegan instead; Sharpe aimed his leg at Krill's groin and instead incapacitated Gar; Flannegan attempted to headbutt Krill, and instead collided with a brick wall; it was a disaster.
In a last ditch effort, Gar unhooked an incendiary grenade from his belt, and tossed it at Krill, who diverted the explosive towards a charging Flannegan; as the resultant explosion knocked him down, the disruptor slid out of Flannegan's grip. Not appreciating what the device really was, Krill kicked it aside and let out an amused chuckle. He knelt beside Flannegan, and peeled a familiar, buzzsaw-like dot off of his suit. "Now," he smirked at Flannegan. "Am I the only one having an intense case of deja vu right now?" he joked.
Gaige, glanced back at the fight, and against his better judgement, broke away from the crowd.
Puzzled, Franco clutched the Physician's arm. "What are you doing? This is exactly what we wanted," he smiled. "Let that calendar creep and his goons have their fun, when they're done, we can have Gotham- you and-"
Gaige nudged past him, and stomped off in Krill's direction, Walker's words ringing in his head.
"Where are you going-? Physician!" Franco protested. "Ah, fuck this!" he exclaimed, thrusting his fist through the plaster on the nearby wall. "Physician, what are you doing?!" he panicked, chasing after him.
Ignoring Franco's tantrum, the 'Physician' calmly picked the disruptor up from off the ground and latched it onto Krill's back.
"What the- Who the fuck are you-?!" Krill exclaimed nervously, desperately trying to remove the now chirping device from off his person.
"Physician!" Franco snapped defiantly.
"I'm not The Physician, son," The man warned. "I'm The Doctor."
"Doctor! Doctor who?" Krill protested, now fruitlessly trying to open a portal.
The Doctor smiled, pulled off his ascot, and wrapped it around his head. Then, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a replacement gold tie, and tied it around his neck. "Doctor Gaige, you polka dotted prick," he announced as he pulled his fist back, and launched it at Krill's face.
"Oh." Krill stumbled backwards; blood trickling down his face. "So... so does anyone actually stay in prison these days, or is it just a fucking bed and breakfast?"
"Holy crap, Gaige?! Aw, man, Drury's gonna freak out!" Sharpe exclaimed. Having already put the pieces together himself, Gar simply glanced at him, and shook his head.
"Hey, Dickhead," a gruff voice called up at Krill, and before he could react, Flannegan's own fist had collided with Krill's jaw.
Intent to join the winning team and hoping to get back in Jenna's good graces, Franco smirked at his date and advanced forward. He picked up a discarded suitcase and threw it against Krill's back. 'Y'know, something chivalrous. Romantic, even.' That notion soon dissipated as Krill turned back, scowled, and drop kicked him across the hallway with damning ease.
"Tsk, tsk. Naughty Davey. Naughty. Leave the fighting to the professionals," he tutted.
As Franco reached for his pistol, Krill shot a pink dot at him, striking him in the side. Franco peeled back his dinner jacket, and scowled at the fresh, deep gash the dot's ridged edge had left.
"Davey!" Jenna screamed.
As she motioned to help him, however, she suddenly found herself unable to move, as though she had been rooted to the spot. Rosso stared back at her, and marched over to Franco in her stead, placing a hand over his wound and pressing down. Hard.
The two of them locked eyes for a moment, and in that instant, they resolved to fix this the only way they knew how: Franco reached into his bloodstained jacket and retrieved his phone; his final attempt to get control of the situation and of Gaige and Jenna. "Hello? This the Mothkiller?" he asked in a hushed tone into the receiver. His answer, was the heavy breathing of a longtime smoker. That confirmed it.
Franco cleared his throat, and continued. "I... I think I have some information you might be interested in."
~-~
The Misfits now knew what they had to do: Without his portals, Krill was just another C-Lister with a gimmick. And those, they knew how to deal with.
As his desperation grew, Krill kept frantically ripping the dots off his suit, and hurling them at the pair, one after another; Gar ducked; Gaige blocked them; Flannegan took two to the chest but kept moving; Sharpe leapt over them one after the other.
And then, Krill looked down at his costume: He'd ran out of dots. Flannegan grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and flung him against the far window; glass shattering as he made impact. He reached for a shard of broken glass, pulled Sharpe towards him, and held the shard close to his throat.
"Go on then!" he warned the Misfits. "Bring it on, you dicks! You think I won't kill this prick? I killed Manga Khan! And guess what, I liked him! He didn't hit me in the head with a fucking billy club neither."
"Hem-hem," a tinny voice called out.
Krill's eyes darted feverishly towards the approaching figure. "They really don't pay me enough for this," he gasped. "Alright, Johnny Five, what have you got?"
L-Ron, bowed his metal head. "Excuse me, but you did not kill Lord Manga."
"Eh-?" Krill's mouth twitched.
"Lord Manga, isn't dead," L-Ron restated. "Lord Manga is an energy being. Essentially formless. And you, took the head off of his favourite armour."
A cloud of pink mist erupted through the broken window frame, wrapped itself around Krill's face, and pulled him and Sharpe through the open window.
"No!" Gar cried, as he ran over to the broken windowsill. "I can't- I-"
He paused. "I don't believe it."
Krill and Sharpe had landed on the cloth awning above the hotel lobby, and though they were both worse for wear, they were breathing: Sharpe's powers had saved them both.
==Sionis Penthouse: Floor 48==
"Abner? Abner, come in. Krill!" Day bellowed down his comms device. No answer.
"See," Blake chuckled. "That's the one thing you need to know about the Misfits, pal-"
"I know everything there is to know about the Misfits," Day snapped at him.
"It's that, we may be assholes, but we're persistent assholes."
"I- I don't think I'm an asshole," Ten stated.
Day's lip curled; his head rocked from side to side, and it looked like he might throw up. Then his body stiffened. "Noted," he said softly.
==Jumbo Carson's Apartment==
"WHAT?!" Carson bellowed, flipping over a table in blinded rage. "Walker's back in Gotham? Why the hell did no one tell me that?!"
"Dad, calm down," Bridget pleaded, placing a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"No!" he dismissed her, tossing the Christmas tree onto its' side. "Who does Day think he is? Trying to cut me out of the action? Me?! How dare he! The Royal's like ten minutes away! We could've coordinated! I could've been there! I approached him: me! But no, he's too good for me! First, he denies me, then he bosses me around, and now he won't even give me the time of day! Fuck him!"
Carson set the phone down, and took a deep ragged breath.
"He's dead, Bridget," he growled. "That bald little prick is dead. What about it, Hayden? Fancy a trip out?"
The pirate, nodded excitedly. "Silly little red man throwing quite the fit.
Silly little red man, hasn't thought it through a bit.
So you take the silly little man, all dressed in black and red
And you grab the red man by the throat and you cut off his head."
[Thank you [https://www.flickr.com/photos/kitty_fluffybutt/] for joining me, this turned out very different than I was planning all on my own!]
In the strangest world of formlessness
I am reaching out to expand my mind
No more echoes and reflections
The future is now
I am the first in line
Because I am alone
Here with my fantasies
Inside my cocoon
A self-constructed galaxy
And hell is where the heart is
But I'll never understand
The fact that I am
And hell is where the heart is
I have lost the concept of life
Is there another to find
Gotta ticket with
A microsynthetic design
For chemical dreams
To fill up the dead spot
In the bottom of my eyes
And welcome the big sleep
Injected with silence
Fading in a sleepy confusion
A beautiful entrance
Into a higher dimension
I was about to explore
The Exit
The Door
Out of my labyrinth
A mind-detonation
The easy solution
Out of my labyrinth
Between midnight and twilight
I leave my shell
To enter the dream-light
The final farewell
Shiva, meaning "The Auspicious One"), also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is a popular Hindu deity. Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God. He is the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.
Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome forms. At the highest level Shiva is limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.
The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorning, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument.
Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam. Temples of Lord Shiva are called shivalayam.
ETYMOLOGY & OTHER NAMES
The Sanskrit word Shiva (Devanagari: शिव, śiva) comes from Shri Rudram Chamakam of Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7) of Krishna Yajurveda. The root word śi means auspicious. In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. The adjective śiva, is used as an attributive epithet not particularly of Rudra, but of several other Vedic deities.
The other popular names associated with Shiva are Mahadev, Mahesh, Maheshwar, Shankar, Shambhu, Rudra, Har, Trilochan, Devendra (meaning Chief of the gods) and Trilokinath (meaning Lord of the three realms).
The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the God Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. He is the oldest worshipped Lord of India.
The Tamil word Sivan, Tamil: சிவன் ("Fair Skinned") could have been derived from the word sivappu. The word 'sivappu' means "red" in Tamil language but while addressing a person's skin texture in Tamil the word 'Sivappu' is used for being Fair Skinned.
Adi Sankara, in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", or "the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)" or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name."Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama, further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure" or "the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas".
Shiva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great God"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"), Maheśvara ("Great Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"), and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").
There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
ASSIMILATION OF TRADITIONS
The figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. According to Vijay Nath:
Visnu and Siva [...] began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. [...] Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."
Axel Michaels the Indologist suggests that Shaivism, like Vaishnavism, implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.
An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.
INDUS VALLEY ORIGINS
Many Indus valley seals show animals but one seal that has attracted attention shows a figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva and have described the figure as having three faces seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined.
This claim has been criticised, with some academics like Gavin Flood and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded. Writing in 1997 Doris Srinivasan said that "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva'", rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Siva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. According to Iravatham Mahadevan symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity Murugan, popularly known as Shiva and Parvati's son.
INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS
Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others.
RUDRA
Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.
The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods. Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances, but the term Shiva is used as an epithet for the gods Indra, Mitra and Agni many times. Since Shiva means pure, the epithet is possibly used to describe a quality of these gods rather than to identify any of them with the God Shiva.
The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudhra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:
Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva), and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.
The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill", and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness". The names Dhanvin ("Bowman") and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.
AGNI
Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:
The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.
In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.
INDRA
According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term śiva is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.
The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana Culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,
Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.
LATER VEDIC LITERATURE
Rudra's transformation from an ambiguously characterized deity to a supreme being began in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400-200 BCE), which founded the tradition of Rudra-Shiva worship. Here they are identified as the creators of the cosmos and liberators of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BCE to 100 CE also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva, with references to Shaiva ascetics in Patanjali's Mahabhasya and in the Mahabharata.
Early historical paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, depict Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi but no other Vedic gods.
PURANIC LITERATURE
The Shiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, discuss the various forms of Shiva and the cosmology associated with him.
TANTRIC LITERATURE
The Tantras, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, regard themselves as Sruti. Among these the Shaiva Agamas, are said to have been revealed by Shiva himself and are foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta.
POSITION WITHIN HINDUISM
SHAIVISM
Shaivism (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ, śaiva paṁtha) (Kannada: ಶೈವ ಪಂಥ) (Tamil: சைவ சமயம்) is the oldest of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", and also "Saivas" or "Saivites", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. The tantric Shaiva tradition consists of the Kapalikas, Kashmir Shaivism and Shaiva Siddhanta. The Shiva MahaPurana is one of the purāṇas, a genre of Hindu religious texts, dedicated to Shiva. Shaivism is widespread throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, mostly. Areas notable for the practice of Shaivism include parts of Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
PANCHAYATANA PUJA
Panchayatana puja is the system of worship ('puja') in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Depending on the tradition followed by Smarta households, one of these deities is kept in the center and the other four surround it. Worship is offered to all the deities. The five are represented by small murtis, or by five kinds of stones, or by five marks drawn on the floor.
TRIMURTI
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", often addressed as "Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara."
ICONOGRAPHY AND PROPERTIES
ATTRIBUTES
Shiva's form: Shiva has a trident in the right lower arm, and a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He wears five serpents and a garland of skulls as ornaments. Shiva is usually depicted facing the south. His trident, like almost all other forms in Hinduism, can be understood as the symbolism of the unity of three worlds that a human faces - his inside world, his immediate world, and the broader overall world. At the base of the trident, all three forks unite.
Third eye: (Trilochana) Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word ambā or ambikā means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā. It has been mentioned that when Shiva loses his temper, his third eye opens which can destroy most things to ashes.
Crescent moon: (The epithets "Chandrasekhara/Chandramouli")- Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Candraśekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his crest" - candra = "moon"; śekhara = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon. The crescent moon is shown on the side of the Lord's head as an ornament. The waxing and waning phenomenon of the moon symbolizes the time cycle through which creation evolves from the beginning to the end.
Ashes: (The epithet "Bhasmaanga Raaga") - Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). The ashes are said to represent the end of all material existence. Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: śmaśānavāsin, also spelled Shmashanavasin), referring to this connection.
Matted hair: (The epithet "Jataajoota Dhari/Kapardina") - Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly. His hair is said to be like molten gold in color or being yellowish-white.
Blue throat: The epithet Nīlakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nīla = "blue", kaṇtha = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Goddess Parvati strangled his neck and hence managed to stop it in his neck itself and prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue. (See Maha Shivaratri.)
Sacred Ganges: (The epithet "Gangadhara") Bearer of Ganga. Ganges river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The Gaṅgā (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair. The flow of the Ganges also represents the nectar of immortality.
Tiger skin: (The epithet "Krittivasana").He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis.
Serpents: (The epithet "Nagendra Haara" or 'Vasoki"). Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.
Deer: His holding deer on one hand indicates that He has removed the Chanchalata of the mind (i.e., attained maturity and firmness in thought process). A deer jumps from one place to another swiftly, similar to the mind moving from one thought to another.
Trident: (Trishula): Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. His Trisul that is held in His right hand represents the three Gunas— Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas. The Damaru in His left hand represents the Sabda Brahman. It represents OM from which all languages are formed. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound.
Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru (ḍamaru). This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kāpālika sect.
Axe: (Parashu):The parashu is the weapon of Lord Shiva who gave it to Parashurama, sixth Avatar of Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe" and also taught him its mastery.
Nandī: (The epithet "Nandi Vaahana").Nandī, also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: vāhana). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra. Rishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is his vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.
Gaṇa: The Gaṇas (Devanagari: गण) are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title gaṇa-īśa or gaṇa-pati, "lord of the gaṇas".
Mount Kailāsa: Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount Kailāsa is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.
Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.
LINGAM
Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, the worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam, or linga, is also important. These are depicted in various forms. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column. Shiva means auspiciousness, and linga means a sign or a symbol. Hence, the Shivalinga is regarded as a "symbol of the great God of the universe who is all-auspiciousness". Shiva also means "one in whom the whole creation sleeps after dissolution". Linga also means the same thing—a place where created objects get dissolved during the disintegration of the created universe. Since, according to Hinduism, it is the same god that creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, the Shivalinga represents symbolically God Himself. Some scholars, such as Monier Monier-Williams and Wendy Doniger, also view linga as a phallic symbol, although this interpretation is disputed by others, including Christopher Isherwood, Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, and S.N. Balagangadhara.
JYOTIRLINGA
The worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.
The sacred of all Shiva linga is worshipped as Jyotir linga. Jyoti means Radiance, apart from relating Shiva linga as a phallus symbol, there are also arguments that Shiva linga means 'mark' or a 'sign'. Jyotirlinga means "The Radiant sign of The Almighty". The Jyotirlingas are mentioned in Shiva Purana.
SHAKTI
Shiva forms a Tantric couple with Shakti [Tamil : சக்தி ], the embodiment of energy, dynamism, and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. Shakti manifests in several female deities. Sati and Parvati are the main consorts of Shiva. She is also referred to as Uma, Durga (Parvata), Kali and Chandika. Kali is the manifestation of Shakti in her dreadful aspect. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla, the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatārini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing or dancing. Shiva is the masculine force, the power of peace, while Shakti translates to power, and is considered as the feminine force. In the Vaishnava tradition, these realities are portrayed as Vishnu and Laxmi, or Radha and Krishna. These are differences in formulation rather than a fundamental difference in the principles. Both Shiva and Shakti have various forms. Shiva has forms like Yogi Raj (the common image of Himself meditating in the Himalayas), Rudra (a wrathful form) and Natarajar (Shiva's dance are the Lasya - the gentle form of dance, associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava - the violent and dangerous dance, associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles).
THE FIVE MANTRAS
Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (namaḥ śivāya).
Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the pañcabrahmans. As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography:
Sadyojāta
Vāmadeva
Aghora
Tatpuruṣha
Īsāna
These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch:
Through these transcendent categories, Śiva, the ultimate reality, becomes the efficient and material cause of all that exists.
According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad:
One should know all things of the phenomenal world as of a fivefold character, for the reason that the eternal verity of Śiva is of the character of the fivefold Brahman. (Pañcabrahma Upanishad 31)
FORMES AND ROLES
According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes.[168] The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.
DESTROYER AND BENEFACTOR
In the Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrific (Sanskrit: rudra) and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: śiva) forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.
The name Rudra (Sanskrit: रुद्र) reflects his fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara (Sanskrit: हर) is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as Kāla (Sanskrit: काल), "time", and as Mahākāla (Sanskrit: महाकाल), "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव), "terrible" or "frightful", is a fierce form associated with annihilation.
In contrast, the name Śaṇkara (Sanskrit: शङ्कर), "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Śaṇkara (c. 788 - 820 CE), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name Śambhu (Sanskrit: शम्भु), "causing happiness", also reflects this benign aspect.
ASCETIC AND HOUSEHOLDER
He is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder, roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society.[185] When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: Mahā = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts. Shiva is also depicted as a corpse below Goddess Kali, it represents that Shiva is a corpse without Shakti. He remains inert. While Shiva is the static form, Mahakali or Shakti is the dynamic aspect without whom Shiva is powerless.
As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet Umāpati ("The husband of Umā") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, Umākānta and Umādhava, also appear in the sahasranama. Umā in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign Pārvatī. She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kamakshi and Meenakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya.
Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta - identified with regional deities Ayyappa and Ayyanar - is born. Shiva is also mentioned in some scriptures or folktales to have had daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. Even the demon Andhaka is sometimes considered a child of Shiva.
NATARAJA
he depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Tamil: நடராஜா,Kannada: ನಟರಾಜ, Telugu: నటరాజు, Sanskrit: naṭarāja, "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: nṛtyamūrti) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Lord Śiva does it by the tāṇḍavanṛtya. and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.
DAKSHINAMURTHY
Dakshinamurthy, or Dakṣiṇāmūrti (Tamil:தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, Telugu: దక్షిణామూర్తి, Sanskrit: दक्षिणामूर्ति), literally describes a form (mūrti) of Shiva facing south (dakṣiṇa). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.
ARDANARISHVARA
An iconographic representation of Shiva called (Ardhanārīśvara) shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form (Ardhanārīśvara) is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman". According to legend, Lord Shiva is pleased by the difficult austerites performed by the goddess Parvati, grants her the left half of his body. This form of Shiva is quite similar to the Yin-Yang philosophy of Eastern Asia, though Ardhanārīśvara appears to be more ancient.
TRIRUPANTAKA
Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरान्तक, Tripurāntaka), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.[216] In this aspect, Shiva is depicted with four arms wielding a bow and arrow, but different from the Pinakapani murti. He holds an axe and a deer on the upper pair of his arms. In the lower pair of the arms, he holds a bow and an arrow respectively. After destroying Tripura, Tripurantaka Shiva smeared his forehead with three strokes of Ashes. This has become a prominent symbol of Shiva and is practiced even today by Shaivites.
OTHER FORMS, AVATARS IDENTIFICATIONS
Shiva, like some other Hindu deities, is said to have several incarnations, known as Avatars. Although Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" avatars of Shiva, the idea is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana speaks of twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars. According to the Svetasvatara Upanishad, he has four avatars.
In the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva and this belief is universal. Hanuman is popularly known as “Rudraavtaar” “Rudra” being a name of “Shiva”. Rama– the Vishnu avatar is considered by some to be the eleventh avatar of Rudra (Shiva).
Other traditions regard the sage Durvasa, the sage Agastya, the philosopher Adi Shankara, as avatars of Shiva. Other forms of Shiva include Virabhadra and Sharabha.
FESTIVALS
Maha Shivratri is a festival celebrated every year on the 13th night or the 14th day of the new moon in the Shukla Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna in the Hindu calendar. This festival is of utmost importance to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava' and it is the day that Lord Shiva was married to Parvati. The holiday is often celebrated with special prayers and rituals offered up to Shiva, notably the Abhishek. This ritual, practiced throughout the night, is often performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, and honey. Bel (aegle marmelos) leaves are often offered up to the Hindu god, as it is considered necessary for a successful life. The offering of the leaves are considered so important that it is believed that someone who offers them without any intentions will be rewarded greatly.
BEYOND HINDUISM
BUDDHISM
Shiva is mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as active, skillful, and more passive.
SIKHISM
The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, the Siddhas speak."
In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh have mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar.
OTHERS
The worship of Lord Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite (White Hun) Dynasty, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdiana and Eastern Turkestan as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sodgian dress. In Eastern Turkestan in the Taklamakan Desert. There is a depiction of his four-legged seated cross-legged n a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. Another panel form Dandan-Uilip shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with His Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva.
Kirant people, a Mongol tribe from Nepal, worship a form of Shiva as one of their major deity, identifying him as the lord of animals. It is also said that the physical form of Shiva as a yogi is derived from Kirants as it is mentioned in Mundhum that Shiva took human form as a child of Kirant. He is also said to give Kirants visions in form of a male deer.
In Indonesia, Shiva is also worshiped as Batara Guru. His other name is "Sang Hyang Jagadnata" (king of the universe) and "Sang Hyang Girinata" (king of mountains). In the ancient times, all kingdoms were located on top of mountains. When he was young, before receiving his authority of power, his name was Sang Hyang Manikmaya. He is first of the children who hatched from the eggs laid by Manuk Patiaraja, wife of god Mulajadi na Bolon. This avatar is also worshiped in Malaysia. Shiva's other form in Indonesian Hindu worship is "Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva). Both the forms are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims. Mostly Shiva is worshipped in the form of a lingam or the phallus.
WIKIPEDIA
The Light Beyond
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness."
(Genesis 1:1-4 NIV)
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
(Psalm 102:25 NIV)
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
(How Great Thou Art)
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. ב וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם. ג וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר. ד וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. ה וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד.
Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.