Pure Ecstasy…
They are pure
ecstasy…
.
.
.
They are like
bundles
Of
HOPE…
.
.
.
YOU just
Fall in
LOVE
with THEM…
.
.
.
I think it’s something
deeper ,
.
.
.
more infinite,
more eternal…than
the ocean
.
.
.
YOU
are a part
of
me
.
.
.
LITTLE
One…
.
.
.
A sense
of
.
.
.
Complete
PEACE…
.
.
.
And then
my
SOUL
.
.
.
Saw
YOU…
.
.
.
Let her
sleep
for
when she wakes up…
.
.
.
she will
move
mountains…
.
.
.
Stories Washed Ashore…
Sometimes when I
think of life,
I feel like a
piece of driftwood…
washed up
on a shore…
only to
float away…
across an
ocean…
like a driftwood…
No address, nothing…
just no more
human…
A sea of possibilities…
Beckon…
beyond twilight zones…
( kovalam beach, Chennai, India)
(words from Harukami , Tuhin roy, Avinash , quotes…)
Silence within…
Lead the mind…
By the mind…
bring it to silence…
In the quiet…
state of mind…
when all the sound..
ripples cease…
The job is done…
( location: Eravikulam National Park , Kerala, South India )
(Words : Adapted from an article by Bramachari Chaitanya )
Care about…
On GLOBAL TIGER DAY…
No one will protect what they don’t
care about ; & no one will care about
what they have never experienced.
~ ` ~ David Attenborough
( At Kanha National park, central India )
Senses…
I smell with my ears
I taste with my eyes
I see with my hands
I touch with my tongue
I hear with my nose
I know
I am in my senses now.
( Poem : Kabir das < location : Kodaikanal, a small hill town near Madurai, Tamil nadu, South India )
Soul’s Freedom…
Witness & stand back
from nature,
that is the first step to
the soul’s
freedom.
~ ` ~ Sri Aurobindo
Yoga…
What does it take to actually be a
yogi, really?
Not spiritual attainment or Asana performance,
but the beautiful embrace of your
own reality.
~ ` ~ Mark Whit well
Soul…
Souls recognize each
other
by vibes…
not by
appearances…
Where ever you
stand
be the soul
of the place.
~ ` ~ Rumi
Friendship is composed
of a single soul.
Inhabiting
two bodies.
~ ` ~ Plautus
The soul
cannot
live without love.
You are a spirit , you
have a soul and you
live in a body.
~ ` ~ Pedro Okoro
( Picture : Indian Gaur )
I Exist…
I exist as I am, that is enough,
if no other in the world be aware,
I sit content,
and if each and all be aware,
I sit content.
~ ` ~ Walt Whitman
Too Busy…
You should sit in meditation for
twenty minutes every
day – unless you’re too busy;
then you should sit for an hour.
~ ` ~ Zen
Chief…
The torn boughs trailing
O’er the tusks…aslant
The saplings reeling in the path
He trod,
Declares his might- our lord
The Elephant
Chief of the ways of
God…
~ ` ~ Tom Alter
Faithful…
I meant what I said,
and I said what I meant.
An elephant is faithful,
one hundred percent.
~ ` ~ Dr Seuss
New course…
We lead our lives like water flowing
going more or less in one direction
until we splash into something
that forces us to find a
new course
( At corbett National park, India )
Forest…
How impossible it is to walk though the forest
without telegraphing
your presence…
~ ` ~ Zen
Mother…
A mother’s love for her child is like
nothing else in the world.
It knows no law, no pity
it dares all things & crushes
down remorselessly
all that stands in
its path.
~ ` ~ Agatha Christie
Being a full time mother
is one of the highest salaried jobs
in my field,
since the payment is
pure love.
~ ` ~ Mildred B Vermont
A mum’s hug
lasts long after
she lets go…
A mother is not a person
to lean on,
But a person to make
leaning unnecessary.
~ ` ~ Dorothy canfield Fisher
Poetry…
There are poems
inside you
that paper can’t
handle
Painting is silent
poetry
&
poetry is painting
that speaks
~ ` ~ Nikos KAzantzakis
You have your brush
you have your colors, you
paint paradise,
then in you go.
~ ` ~ Adrienne Rich
Set Free…
…I see within your heart
of hearts
where no masks are
A spirit waiting to be set free
as it always meant to be…
` ~ ` Mary Merrell
Journey…
The journey to understand the
true nature of reality requires no paper map,
no metal compass, and no breadcrumb
left by others.
The true journey is one that is travelled
with an inner GPS fully activated,
and a mind as open as a parachute
… perfectly capable of landing exactly
where you’re meant to be.
` ~ ` Alex Brooks
Merge…
Memories of our childhood
are like images painted on
a wet canvas, they merge
until they lose all shape,
often remaining only as
feelings.
~ ` ~ Brian Mynott
Eventually , all things
merge into one,
and a river runs through it
~ ` ~ Norman Maclean
In greatness,
life and death
merge.
~ ` ~ Dejan Stojanovic
Surrender is the
ultimate technique
to merge with
existence
~ ` ~ Paramahamsa Nithyananda
Thought that can merge
wholly into feeling,
feeling that can merge
wholly into thought-
these are the artist’s highest joy
~ ` ~ Thomas Mann
I merged so completely with
love
and was so fused
that I became
love
and love became
me
– ~ ` ~ Rumi
A Seeker…
I was a terrible believer in things, but I was also a terrible non- believer.
in things.
I was as searching as I was sceptical.
I didn’t know where to put my faith, or if there was such a place,
or even precisely what the faith meant ,
in all its complexity.
Everything seemed to be possibly potent and possibly fake.
” YOU ARE A SEEKER ” …..My mother said…
~ ` ~ Cheryl Strayed
Cling to…
How we need another S O U L
to cling to.
~ ` ~ Sylvia Plath
You can only L O V E
What you cling to.
~ ` ~ Buddha
what did my arms
do before they held
Y O U .
~ ` ~ Sylvia Plath
Gold…
“If gold has been prized because it is the most inert element,
changeless and incorruptible, water is prized for the
opposite reason — its fluidity, mobility, changeability that make it a necessity and a metaphor for life itself.
To value gold over water is to
value economy over ecology, that which
can be locked up over that which connects all things.”
~ ` ~ Rebecca Solnit
Honk Honk…!!
H O N K H O N K H O N K….
Make some N O I S E for the
R H I N o S !!!
O N
World Rhino Day.
( Indian one horned Rhino….Kaziranga national park…India )
Stillness Speaks…
Be still
stillness reveals
the secret of
eternity…
` ~ ` Lao Tzu
That the mind
is in
abysmal stillness…
` ~ ` Lao Tzu
Nothing in all
creation is
so like god
as
Stillness.
` ~ ` Meister Eckhart
Learning how to
be still,
to really be still
and let life happen–
that stillness becomes a
radiance…
` ~ ` Morgan Freeman
Even when in the midst
of disturbance,
stillness of the mind can
offer
sanctuary..
` ~ ` Stephen Richards
In the stillness of headstones ,
Darkness in my blanket.
And forever in my song..
In the arms if stare angles,
I ‘m not afraid.
Because finally and
completely,
I belong
` ~ ` Jordan Dane
Please also take a look at my other post..https://sriramjanak.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/speaking-rocks/
( location : Aritappati village…near Madurai. Tamil Nadu,
INDIA )
Alive…
It is beautiful to be
sensitive…
And if you are more
sensitive…
You will be more
Alive…
If you are more Alive,
then more life will
Enter your inner being.
You will be more
Open…
You can eat things with out
tasting; it is not difficult…
But…it is beautiful to taste….
become the taste of the food…
We are feeling vacant, empty and
we keep saying life is….empty
We are not filling it…
Be more alive, and you will be more Divine.
Be totally alive,
and there is no death for you…
( Words : OSHO )
One Minute…
It is difficult to live in the present,
ridiculous to live in the future
,
and impossible to live in the past.
Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.
~ ` ~ Unknown
Black & white…
“Color is everything,
black and white is more.
~`~ Dorninie Rouse
“To see in color is a delight for the eye
but to see in black and white is a
delight for the soul.”
~`~ Andri Cauldwell
“I’ve been forty years discovering that
the queen of all colors is black.”
~`~ Henri Mattise
“One very important difference between color and monochromatic photography is this:
in black and white you suggest;
in color you state .
Much can be implied by suggestion, but statement demands certainty…
absolute certainty.”
~`~ Paul Outerbridge
“Black and white are the colors of photography.
To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to
which mankind is forever subjected.”
~`~ Robert Frank
The world is in color
you have to work at B& W
~`~ Andrew Maclean
Black and white are the colors of photography.
To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair
to which mankind is forever subjected.
~`~ Unknown
Black & white (photography) frees up the photographer to see the
World & recreate it in a fresh way, shifting the image from
“How it looked to” how it felt.”
~`~ Gregory Heisler
Life is like a good B&W photograph,
there ‘s black , there’s white &
lots of shades in between
~`~ Karl Heiner
Shadow & Soul…
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
~`~ Pablo Neruda
A Hug…
Hugging is the ideal gift.
Great for any occasion, fun to give and receive,
shows you care, comes with its own wrapping and,
of course, is fully returnable. Hugging is practically perfect.
No batteries to wear out, inflation-proof, nonfattening,
no monthly payments, theft-proof and nontaxable.”
~~ Unknown
“Hugs are a means of transferring energy to
another person who is dear to you.
This will replenish depleted energy
at any time particularly when a dear person is sick.”
~~ Unknown
“Hugs are to pull two
people closer together
but why is it that you can never see the other
person’s expression when it happens?”
~~ Unknown
My favorite place to
be is inside of your
hugs where it’s warm and loving.”
~~ unknown
“As long as you hold me,
I am safe from all harm.”
~~ Unknown
Be Soft…
Be soft; don’t let the world make you hard.
Do not let pain make you hate.
Do not let bitterness steal your sweetness.
Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree,
You still believe it to be a
B E A U T I F U L …place
~~ Anonymous
A Tree…
A tree says: My strength is trust.
I know nothing about my fathers,
I know nothing about the thousand children that
every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed
t o the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me.
I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
~~ Hermann Hesse
I never saw a discontented tree.
They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though
fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.
They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind,
going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day
and through space heaven knows how fast and far!
~ ~ John Muir
Consider the trees which allow the birds to perch and fly
away without either inviting them to stay
or desiring them never to depart.
If your heart can be like this,
you will be near to the way..
~~ Zen saying
“Love the trees until their leaves fall off,
then encourage them to try again next year.”
~~ Chad Sugg
( A Ficus mollis tree )
Mountain…
It isn’t the mountain ahead to climb
that wear you out;
It’s the pebble in
your shoes.”
~ ~ Mohammed Ali
(Place : “yanna Malai” A.K.A The elephant hill. In my home town Madurai . India )
Wildness…
I don’t like formal gardens.
I like wild nature.
It’s just the wildness instinct in me,
I Guess.
~~ Walt Disney
Love…
“There are four Qs that are of value in life,
What is sacred?
Of what is the spirit made?
What is worth living for?
What is worth dying for?
The answer to each is the same…
L O V E…
~~ Johnny Depp
Mind seeing…
I shut my eyes in order to see…
The poet, the painter, or the photographer who is locked into only the visual phenomena
may miss the heart of what was actually being experienced…
Internationalization closes
many doors…
Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Enjoy the mystery .
All the good stuff is hidden in the dark corners.
It’s what gives life a sense of vitality…
The brush paints by itself,
the dance dances itself,
the poem writes itself.
There is no longer a gap between artist, subject,
audience, and life…
Just see, just hear, just taste,
just touch, just smell,
just see a thought without the need to give it a name or identity.
This way of perceiving will then begin to translate
into the way you express yourself through your art…
Only that day dawns to which we are awake
~`Henry David Thoreau
Develop the ability to experience things directly, without evaluation.
You will be able to see, hear fell taste, smell…
As your attentiveness and awareness increase with practice….
you will begin to notice little things that you have been seeing everyday
but barely noticed in passing…
Only that day dawns
to which we are awake
~`Henry David Thoreau
Each one of us is n artist
Whether we realize it or not…
When you learn to trust yourself implicitly,
you no longer need to prove something
through your art…
If the energy is really flowing freely,
the brush paints by itself. the camera pictographs,…
.the sculpture forms…the words write…
To be nothing…to want nothing…
to do nothing…
it has to be experienced…
( Words: zen arts, Minor white, Ryoken, Zen creativity…)
Wishing you all a blessed and peaceful new year…:-)
walk…
Travelers ,
There are no paths…
Paths are made by
Walking….
~~ Antonio Machado
( location : walking after crossing( swimming ) the Ramganga river @ Corbett national park, India )
Enjoy listening…
I am somewhat of a bullshitter
my self…
but occasionally I enjoy
listening to an expert (s )..
Please carry on !!
Muddy…
check your mind
Be on your guard
Pull yourself out
as an Elephant from mud…
~~ Buddha
If the mud ain’t flying
You ain’t trying…
Go through the mud
They said
It isn’t deep
they said…
Dontcha
wish your daddy
could mud
like mine ??
The world is
Mud luscious
&
puddle wonderful…
If you pray
for rain
be prepared for
some mud…
make mud
not war…
(words: internet posters…)
Light…
Think about it . Light , where would we be without it ?
Light we can capture it.
It is light that reveals,
Light that obscures,
Light that communicates.
It is light I “listen ” to.
~~ Louis Daguerre
(On world photography day August 19th )
Balance…
” What I dream of is
an art of balance…”
~~ Henri Matisse
Life is Balance….
Everything that you see as life…
Everything that you see as yourself is
beautiful…
only when it is in
Balance..
Your body,
Your thoughts….
Your emotions…
Everything is beautiful…
only if it is Balance…
Balance IS
Beautiful….
~~ Miyoko ohno
(words : jaggi Vasudev )
Black or White…
Now I believe in Miracles
And a miracle ..
Has happened..
It don’t matter if you’re
Black or White…. ( Micheal Jackson )
The T I G E R …is the symbol of power,
Unbridled, elemental.
And he lives alone,
unblemished, unmarred..
The more you know about him,
the more he gets into your imagination….
( words : Billy Arjan Singh )
Living rocks -Jain hill – Keelakuyilkudi
Climbing over the zenith of the Rocky Mountains,
I caught my first glimpse of this bass relief,
which is arguably the most beautiful of its kind, in southern India.
And right then, right there, I was hooked…..Actually I had fallen in love with the rock formations around Madurai
you can see some of the photos here..
https://sriramjanak.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/speaking-rocks/
I live in madurai , a city ,in the state of Tamil nadu , in the south of India.
It is famously known as the temple city or the Athens of the east.
Madurai is surrounded by several mountains. Madurai city has 3 hills as its city boundary.
Yanaimalai, Nagamalai, Pasumalai named after Elephant, Snake and Cow respectively.
Many stone statues and other artifacts are present in these hill
I have been exploring these hills alone and with friends for the past year or so.
I will share photos of these beautiful statues , inscriptions and the rock formations on these hills in the series
“ Living rocks“…
I will start this series with…
Jain hill at Keelakuyilkudi
An 8 feet high Theerthangarar figure with an inscription at its foot is seen
at the cave known as in the southern part of the hillock.
(Jain scriptures define the term tirthankara as follows: the contrivance which help to cross the great ocean of worldly life is called Tirtha and the person who makes that tirtha is known as tirthankara )
The most beautiful bas-relief of the Tirthankara in Madurai ( if not in Tamil nadu )
A Jain temple prospered here from 1st century to 10th century with large number of students.
It remained as a worship place for Jains during 8th century.
Tamil-Brahmi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil-Brahmi ) script on a boulder on the hill’s terrace.
The script is engraved on the boulder in which a drip-ledge has been cut and
beds excavated on the rock floor for the Jain monks to rest .
Also Theerthangarar figures are seen near the spring at
the cave at the top of hillock.
Ancient inscriptions are seen below these figures.
Central Archaeological department preserves this hill.
Archaeologists consider that once a Theerthangarar temple should have been present at the top of this hillock.
Kings, landlords and village heads had supported this Jain temple.
Speaking rocks….
you just need to touch them…
in the southern part of the hillock. Inside the cave there
are 3 Theerthangarar and 2 Iyyakki Bas -relief figures
The smoke…
I know , I know we’ll never forget
Smoke on the water & fire in the sky.
smoke on the water…..
~~ Deep purple
MOSI– OA — TUNYA
Also known as the
S M O K E T H A T T H U N D E R S
” The most wonderful sight
I had witnessed in Africa “
~~ Dr David Livingstone
He heard the roar
still miles away……
the spray from the falls rises to a
height of over 400 m–sometimes even twice as high &
is visible up to 50 km away !
The spray shoots upward
like inverted rain….
Its nearly 2 k m wide…
Life is too short …..
not to be in the most exciting places in the
world…..
Nature has it’s own way of scripting
her story….
I shut my eyes…
wishing it would never end…
Every thing in this world
is beautiful…
E V E R Y T H I N G…
( Victoria falls– Aerial shots from a chopper )
Living with a damaged skull 