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Got to paint with my old, old friend Oake from back east. He and his wife-to-be came to check out Denver, and I was more than happy to show them around. Without all the futzing around and smoke breaks, this probably took 45 minutes to roll the wall and paint. Evolve covers very well.
All Evolve
Pedicure Pink
Pepto Pink
Scab
Earwax Green
Cope 2 Aqua
Life Aquatic
NY Fat, Evolve stock (fake NYF) for the green border, and a Pink Dot
The ultimate Yogi, the diety of salvation, the highest source of attaining a state of bliss and absolute energy for man, Shiva is the personification of enlightenment - the state of nirvana, a freedom from suffering and the transcendence of the mind to the spiritual realm of limitless joy.
Shiva signifies absolute action and at the same time He is the stillness in the movement and the absorption of co-existing contradictions - the absolute reality beyond time, space and reason. He is the conciousness which bestows bliss and the eternal experience of energy, the portrayal of the potential energy contained in every atom.
The dance of Shiva is the divine motion that goes on inside every atom and the universe as a whole - the spectacular celestial dance, the display of all movements that occur in the inside and the outside of us. Represented in the form of a cylinder, the most stable and elementary shape in creation, He sustains all creation and is the source of all energies emanating from what he represents - Silence and Space.
As described on an audio CD titled The Chants of Shiva. Author - Anonymous.
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Om Namah Shivaya is a popular mantra (chant/prayer) in Hinduism.
Its translation is "adoration (namas) to Shiva", preceded by the mystical syllable "Om".
The meaning of the Namaḥ Śivāya mantra was explained by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:
Namaḥ Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded at the very center of the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Agamas.
Na is the Lord's concealing grace, Ma is the world, Śi stands for Śiva, Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul. The five elements, too, are embodied in this ancient formula for invocation. Na is earth, Ma is water, Śi is fire, Vā is air, and Ya is ether, or Ākāśa. Many are its meanings.
Namaḥ Śivaya has such power, the mere intonation of these syllables reaps its own reward in salvaging the soul from bondage of the treacherous instinctive mind and the steel bands of a perfected externalized intellect. Namaḥ Śivāya quells the instinct, cuts through the steel bands and turns this intellect within and on itself, to face itself and see its ignorance. Sages declare that mantra is life, that mantra is action, that mantra is love and that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.
The book "The Ancient Power of Sanskrit Mantra and Ceremony: Volume I" by Thomas Ashley-Farrand defines Om Namah Shivaya as:
"This mantra has no direct translation. The sounds relate directly to the principles which govern each of the first five chakras on the spine...Earth, water, fire, air, ether. Notice that this does not refer to the chakras themselves which have a different set of seed sounds, but rather, the principles which govern those chakras in their place. A very rough, non-literal translation could be something like, 'Om and salutations to that which I am capable of becoming.' This mantra will start one out on the path of subtle development of spiritual attainments. It is the beginning on the path of Siddha Yoga, or the Yoga of Perfection of the Divine Vehicle."
"Na" refers to the Gross Body (annamayakosa), "Ma" refers to the Pranic Body (pranamayakosa), "Shi" or "Chi" refers to the Mental Body (manonmayakosa), "Va" refers to the Intellectual Body (vignanamayakosa) and "Ya" refers to the Blissful Body (anandamayakosa) and "OM" or the "silence" beyond these syllables refers to the Soul or Life within.
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The metaphoric representations of Shiva as per the Holy scriptures:
Shiva's form:
Shiva has a Trident in the right lower arm, with a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He has fire and Damaru (drum) and Mala (beads) or a kind of weapon. In some depictions, he wears five serpents as ornaments, and a garland of skulls. He is pressing with his feet the demon Muyalaka, a dwarf holding a cobra. He faces south. Panchakshara (five syllables/elements) itself is his body. It is believed that Shiva became a god through meditating everyday.
Third eye:
Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam", which occurs in many scriptural sources. It is said to symbolize him as the destroyer of all evil and ignorance.
Crescent moon:
Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet "Chandraśekhara" - "Having the moon as his crest" (chandra = "moon"; śekhara = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. 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. Since the Lord is the Eternal Reality, He is beyond time. Thus, the crescent moon is only one of His ornaments. The wearing of the crescent moon in his head indicates that He has controlled the mind perfectly, is the master of time and is Himself timeless.
Sacred Ganges:
The Ganges river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The epithet Gaṅgādhara ("bearer of the river Gaṅgā") refers to this feature. 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 is said to represent the nectar of immortality as well as signify the flow of scriptural teachings passing wisdom from one generation to the next.
Tiger skin:
He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis. Tiger represents lust. His sitting on the tiger’s skin indicates that He has conquered lust and is fearless.
Serpents:
Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake. His wearing of serpents on the neck denotes wisdom and eternity. It is also said to signify the ego, which once mastered can be worn as an ornament.
Deer Skin:
Represents that He has removed the "Chanchalata" (tossing) of the mind. Deer jumps from one place to another swiftly. The mind also jumps from one object to another.
Trident:
Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. Held in His right hand it represents the three Gunas (qualities) — Sattva, Rajas and Tamas - Knowledge, Desire and Implementation. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas.
Drum
The Damaru (hourglass shaped drum) in His left hand represents the Eternal Sound. It represents OM from which all languages are formed. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound. With this language He gave us the teachings of the Holy Scriptures to guide us through life.
Beads:
The wearing of the beads denotes purity, sometimes with a rosary in the right hand denoting concentration.
Nandī:
Nandī, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount. Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati, translated "lord of cattle" or "lord of animals". The bull represents Dharma (righteousness). Lord Siva rides on the bull. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.
The message cannot be clearer.
However, the picture came to be by chance alone. I was at my buddy's country house and was reading The End Of Faith by Sam Harris when I set the book down on the coffee table I was sitting close to. It then struck me how it just happened to look this way, even with the symbolic "tree of life" in the background...
The title sort of forced itself upon me since, ironically, some Christians are evolution deniers and they've adopted (since the early days when they were nothing more than a Jewish sect) the fish as a symbol whose first two letters (in ancient Greek) signify Iesus Xestos.
Debbie & cindy at the wall. Put-In Bay, Ohio. Put-In Bay is a small Island with lots of historical significance. Commander Perry defeated the Brittish here in the War of 1812. Now it is mostly a college party town.
'Evolving Perceptions' 2011
resin, nails, enamel, acrylic on wood 24"x24"
The world is full of magic things,
patiently waiting
for our senses to grow sharper.
~W.B. Yeats
in SENSORIA at art sites April 6th-May 5th 2013
China and India
english
Chinese folk religion (simplified Chinese: 中国民间宗教 or 中国民间信仰; traditional Chinese: 中國民間宗教 or 中國民間信仰; pinyin: Zhōngguó mínjiān zōngjiào or Zhōngguó mínjiān xìnyăng) or, controversially, Shenism (pinyin: Shénjiào, 神教) are labels used to describe the collection of ethnic religious traditions which have been a main belief system in China and among Han Chinese ethnic groups for most of the civilization's history until today. Shenism comprises Chinese mythology and includes the worship of shens (神, shén; "deities", "spirits", "awarenesses", "consciousnesses", "archetypes") which can be nature deities, Taizu or clan deities, city deities, national deities, cultural heroes and demigods, dragons and ancestors. "Shenism" is a term was first published by A.J.A Elliot in 1955, and is described as a misleading terminology among scholars.
It is sometimes considered a type of Taoism, a Folk Taoism, since over the centuries institutional Taoism has been attempting to assimilate or administrate local religions. More accurately, Taoism can be defined as a branch of Shenism, since it sprang out of folk religion and Chinese philosophy. Chinese folk religion is sometimes seen as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion, but more often, the two are regarded as synonymous. Unlike Taoism, the religious aspects found in Confucianism (worship of Confucius and his disciples, worship of Tian, rituals and sacrifices) never became doctrinally and institutionally independent and have thus remained for centuries part of Shenism.
With around 454 million adherents, or about 6.6% of the world population, Chinese folk religion is one of the major religious traditions in the world. In China more than 30% of the population adheres to Shenism or Taoism.
Despite being heavily suppressed during the last two centuries of the history of China, from the Taiping Movement to the Cultural Revolution, it is experiencing a major revival nowadays in both Mainland China and Taiwan. Various forms have received support by the Government of the People's Republic of China, such as Mazuism in Southern China (officially about 160 million Chinese are Mazuists), Huangdi worship, Black Dragon worship in Shaanxi, and Caishen worship.
Overview
Chinese folk religion retains traces of some of ancestral primal religious belief systems such as animism and shamanism,which include the veneration of (and communication with) the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Heaven, and various stars, as well as communication with animals. It has been practiced by the Chinese people for thousands of years, and since the start of the Common Era alongside Buddhism, Taoism and various other religions.
Rituals, devotional worship, myths sacred reinactment, festivals and various other practices associated with different folk gods and goddesses form an important part of Chinese culture today. The veneration of secondary gods does not conflict with an individual's chosen religion, but is accepted as a complementary adjunct, particularly to Taoism. Some mythical figures in folk culture have been integrated into Chinese Buddhism, as in the case of Miao Shan. She is generally thought to have influenced the beliefs about the Buddhist bodhisattva Guanyin. This bodhisattva originally was based upon the Indian counterpart Avalokiteśvara. Androgynous in India, this bodhisattva over centuries became a female figure in China and Japan. Guanyin is one of the most popular bodishisattvas to which people pray.
There are many free folk religion texts such as Journeys to the Underworld distributed in temples, or sold in gods material shops or vegetarian shops. Temples for Shenist worship are different from Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, being administered by local managers, associations and worship communities.
Characteristics
Gods and goddesses
There are hundreds of local gods and goddess as well as demigods. After apotheosis, historical figures noted for their bravery or virtue are also venerated and honored as ancestral "saints", xians, or heightened to the status of shens, deities. The following list represents some commonly worshipped deities.
Pangu (盘古), the creator god in certain myths. He is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang).
Fuxi (伏羲), also known as Paoxi, a divine patriarch reputed to have taught to humanity writing, fishing, and hunting. Cangjie is also said to have invented writing.
Nüwa (女娲), also Nügua, an ancient mother goddess, attributed for the creation of mankind. In later traditions she is described as the twin sister or/and wife of Fuxi.
Shennong (神农), also identified as Yandi (炎帝), a divine patriarch said to have taught the ancient Chinese the practices of agriculture. He is often represented as a human with bull horns.
Huangdi (黃帝), or "Yellow Emperor", the divine patriarch of the Huaxia culture lineage. He is regarded as the founder of the whole Chinese civilization.
Guan Yu (关羽), also known with the templar names of Guandi and Guan Gong, the red-faced, bearded hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and symbol of loyalty. He is the patron god of policemen, war, fortune, and law, as he shows forgiveness, and often also serves as Wu Sheng.
Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝), a divine physician, whose powers extend to raising the dead. Worship is especially prevalent in Fujian and Taiwan.
Caishen (财神 "God of Wealth"), who oversees the gaining and distribution of wealth through fortune. He is often the deified manifestation of certain historical personalities such as Zhao Gongming or Bi Gan. His shape is sometimes that of a giant blue whiskered cat.
Shoushen (寿神 "God of Longevity"), who stands for a healthy and long life. He is portrayed as an old balding man with a walking stick in his right hand and a peach in his left.
Fushen (福神 "God of Happiness"), he looks like a traditional Chinese feudal lord with red clothing. He symbolizes happiness and joy.
Lushen (禄神 "God of Prosperity"), a god of success in work and life. In ancient times he was the patron god of success in imperial bureaucracy.
The Baxian (八仙), the "Eight Immortals", are important literary and artistic figures who were deified after death and became objects of worship. In Taoism they're worshipped as xians.
Huye (虎爺), a guardian spirit, often found at the bottom of Taoist temple shrines. Worshipers revere the tiger spirit to curse spiritual enemies. Rituals include stomping an effigy of a spiritual enemy in front of the tiger spirit, as well as sacrificing meat offerings, paper gold, and others.
The Jiuhuang Dadi (九皇大帝) refer to spirits of nine emperors, worshiped as emanations of Mazu, patron goddess of sailors. A festival is held over the first nine days of the ninth lunar month to celebrate the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits. This is celebrated primarily in Malaysia.
Mazu (妈祖 "Ancient Mother"), the patroness, also considered as the goddess of sailors. Shrines can be found in coastal areas of Eastern and South-Eastern China. Today, belief in Mazu is especially popular in the South and South-East, including Fujian (福建), Guangdong (廣東), Hainan (海南), Taiwan (台灣), Hong Kong (香港), and Vietnam (越南).
Qiye (七爺) and Baye (八爺), two generals and best friends, often seen as giant puppets in street parades. 8 is black, because he drowned rather than miss his appointment to meet with 7, even though a flood was coming. 7 has his tongue sticking out, because he hanged himself in mourning for 8.
Shangdi (上帝) is originally the supreme god, synonymous with the concept of Tian. This title/name was later applied to the supreme deity of various religions, including Yu Huang Dadi and the Christian God.
Cheng Huang (城隍), commonly known as "City God" in English, a class of protective deities: each city has a Cheng Huang who looks after the fortunes of the city and judges the dead. Usually these are famous or noble persons from the city who were deified after death. The Cheng Huang Miao (城隍廟) or "City God Temple" was often the focal point of a town in ancient times.
Tudi Gong (土地公 "God of the Earth"), a genius loci who protects a local place (especially hills), and whose statue may be found in roadside shrines. He is also the god of wealth, by virtue of his connection with the earth, and therefore, minerals and buried treasure.
Wenchangdi (文昌帝), god of students, scholars, and examination. He is worshiped by students who wish to pass their examinations. Inept examiners in ancient times sometimes sought "divine guidance" from him to decide rank between students.
Xi Wangmu (西王母), the "Queen Mother of the West", also known as Yaochi Jinmu (瑤池金母 "Golden Mother of the Jade Pond"), a mother goddess who reigns over a paradisaical mountain and has the power to make others immortal. In some myths, she is the mother of the Jade Emperor (玉帝).
Yuexia Laoren (月下老人 "Old Man Under the Moon"). The matchmaker who pairs lovers together, worshiped by those seeking their partner.
Zaoshen (灶神), the "God of the Kitchen", also Zao Jun (灶君), mentioned in the title of Amy Tan's novel, The Kitchen God's Wife. He reports to heaven on the behavior of the family of the house once a year, at Chinese New Year, and is given sticky rice to render his speech less comprehensible on that occasion.
Songzi Niangniang (送子娘娘) or Zhusheng Niangniang (註生娘娘), a fertility goddess. She is worshipped by people who want children, or who want their child to be a boy.
Places of worship
Shenist temples can be distinguished into miao (庙), called "joss houses", "deity houses" or simply "temples" in English, and ci (祠), called "ancestral halls" or simply "temples" in English. Both the terms actually mean "temple" in Chinese, and they've been used interchangeably many times. However miao is the general Chinese term for "temple" understood as "place of worship", and can be used for places of worship of any religion. In Chinese folk religion it is mostly associated to temples which enshrine nature gods and patron gods. Instead ci is the specific term for temples enshrining ancestry gods, human beings apotheosized as gods.
"Joss" is a corrupted version of the Portuguese word for "god", deus. "Joss house" was in common use in English in western North America during frontier times, when joss houses were a common feature of Chinatowns. The name "joss house" describes the environment of worship. Joss sticks, a kind of incense, are burned inside and outside of the house.
Shenist temples are distinct from Taoist temples (观 guan or 道观 daoguan) and Buddhist monasteries (寺 si) in that they are established and administered by local managers, associations and worship communities; only few or none priests stay in folk temples. Shenist temples are usually small, very colourful (by contrast with Taoist temples which by tradition should be black and white in color, and Buddhist temples which are characterised by a prevalence of yellow and red tonalities), and decorated with traditional figures on their roofs (dragons and deities), although some evolve into significant structures. Other terms associated to templar structures of Shenism and other religions in China are 宫 gong ("palace"), often used for large temples (even if mostly Taoist) built by imperial officials, and 院 yuan, a general term for "sanctuary", "shrine".
português
Religião tradicional chinesa é a religião do povo chinês. É uma religião politeísta, com certos elementos do xamanismo e teve influência do budismo, do confucionismo e do taoísmo.
Seu número de seguidores é difícil de ser calculado, mas as fontes variam entre 880 milhões e 390 milhões. Sendo uma religião sincretista, sua diferenciação de outras tradições espirituais chinesas é difícil.
Deuses e deusas
Guan Yu (關羽), o Deus-Supremo
Fu Shen (福神)
Hu Ye (虎爺)
Jiu Wang Ye (九皇爺), o 9o imperador divino
Mazu (媽祖)
Qiye (七爺) e Baye (八爺)
Shangdi Shangdi (上帝) (lit. Supremo Imperador)
Cheng Huang (城隍)
Sun Wukong (孫悟空)
Tu Di Gong (土地公)
Wenchangdi (文昌帝)
Xi Wangmu (西王母)
Yuexia Laoren (月下老人)
Zao Shen (灶君|灶神)
Zhusheng Niangniang (註生娘娘)
english
The Museum of the Orient (Portuguese: Museu do Oriente) in Lisbon, Portugal celebrates the history of Portuguese exploration with a collection of Asian artifacts. The museum opened in May, 2008, and is located in a refurbished industrial building on the Alcântara waterfront. The collection includes Indonesian textiles, Japanese screens, antique snuff bottles, crucifixes made in Asia for Western export, and the Kwok On Collection of masks, costumes, and accessories.
português
O Museu do Oriente está instalado no edifício Pedro Álvares Cabral, antigos armazéns da Comissão Reguladora do Comércio do Bacalhau em Alcântara, Lisboa.
O museu reúne colecções que têm o Oriente como temática principal, nas vertentes histórica, religiosa, antropológica e artística.
A exposição permanente engloba 1400 peças alusivas à presença portuguesa na Ásia e 650 peças pertencentes à colecção Kwok On.
O museu é da responsabilidade da Fundação Oriente e foi inaugurado no dia 8 de Maio de 2008.
A actual directora é Maria Manuela d'Oliveira Martins.
Foi classificado como Monumento de interesse público (MIP) pelo IGESPAR em 15 de junho de 2010.