Muslim Cultures
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Just as archers fix their gaze upon a distant target before loosing the strings of their bows and sending their arrows flying, so do lovers of God fix their gaze on the face of God, each releasing the soul so it too can fly toward its target where it celebrates its homecoming. All spiritual paths teach us that if we want to find God, then we need to turn directly toward God, come face-to-face with the energies of the Divine, and then surrender to whatever begins to occur as a result of the impact that such an encounter creates in our lives. But where do we turn? And where exactly is it that we find the face of the Divine? Is it everywhere? Or in one particular location only? And can perhaps a particular location, a particular face, serve as the doorway to the face of God?
One way to look upon the face of God is to create an image of God, either a painting or a sculpture, and then gaze at the image for an extended period of time. This practice can be found in the Greek Orthodox Church where icons of saints and personages from the Bible are the only companions that monks and nuns take with them into the isolation of their cells during long periods of retreat.
When one fixes his or her entire attention on these images over long hours and days, the images may come to life and enter into animated dialogue with the practitioner. Many devout Hindus create personal shrines in their homes and temples in which images of a god or goddess serve as the means for personal dialogue with the Divine. It is said that the eyes of these images are the most important of all the facial features, for by creating eye contact with the image a devotee achieves darshan, a sanskrit word meaning "seeing and being seen by God."
Because the eyes are universally acknowledged to be the windows to the soul, when we hold the gaze of another, we hold and cradle his or her soul. This most intimate of acts is reserved as a privilege for people who love and trust one another. Newborn children are natural adepts at the practice and are often able to draw their parents into gazing at them for long periods of time. People newly in love may find that they automatically fall into gazing at each other as a natural expression of the love that they feel. In fact, this unintentional and spontaneous dissolving into the eyes of the other is often the signal that, at long last, they have finally found the beloved for whom they've been searching. When describing this newfound love, people will often rejoice that, finally, they have met someone who truly sees them as they are.
*The above excerpt is taken from the article Gazing At The Beloved By Will Johnson
photo is not an endorsement of Sufism but this is an interesting article about the site of this photo:
www.thefader.com/2017/07/12/sufism-reoriented-cheesecake-...
I have made Thee the Companion of my heart
But my body is available for those who seek its company,
And my body is friendly towards its guests,
But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul
-- Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya
This is the Rheinwald valley as seen from above. The river that flows through this valley is the Hinterrhein, one of the two arms of the Rhine.
Go-Coach 5007 YN53 SUF is seen skirting Otford Pond whilst working route 421 from Swanley to Sevenoaks. Thursday 28th December 2017.
Optare Solo M850 - Optare (Ex-Epsom Coaches Group - Quality Line OP14 & Epsom Buses EB04 - registered E4 HRR).
Khanqah-e-Moula is situated in Srinagar, on the banks of the river Jhelum. One of the oldest Muslim shrines in Kashmir, the khanqah was built by Sultan Sikander built in 1395. The Khanqah is a wooden structure whose chief aesthetic feature is its beautifully carved eaves and hanging bells. The interiors are richly carved and painted, and the antique chandeliers give it an air of opulence. The Khanqah-i-Mualla is dedicated to Muslim preacher Mir Syed Ali Hamdani..
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Also known as Shah Hamadan, the preacher came to Kashmir from the city of Hamadan in Persia in the 13th century. He is believed to be responsible for the spread of Islam in Kashmir. The Shah stayed in Kashmir for many years and then left for Central Asia via Ladakh. He also built a mosque at Shey (near Leh). The shrine gains a special significance on 6th of Zilhaj (last month of Muslim calendar), the death anniversary of Mir Syed Ali Hamadni. On this day, devotees visit the shrine in large numbers to pay a tribute to Shah Hamadan..
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The Khanqah of Shah Hamadan was the first mosque to be built in Srinagar. The Shah used to meditate and offer his prayers daily on the banks of river Jhelum, at the same spot where the shrine now stands. The Khanqah of Shah Hamadan in Kashmir has undergone ruination a couple of times. The year 1480 saw the shrine being ruined in a devastating fire. Later, the shrine was reconstructed and restored by the then ruler Sultan Hassan Shah. Again, in 1493 AD, Khanqah-e-Moula was demolished and reconstructed in two-stories. A fire again struck the shrine in 1731 AD leading to first its destruction and then renovation by Abul Barkat Khan.
Photo was taken by using a Nikon D600 an Nikon Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AI.
www.pixelprinzen.de/blog/auf-fototour-durch-die-schweiz-d...