Stillness . . .
Wait in the Stillness ,
until you get what
you came for…
~ ` ~ Bryon Katie
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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…)
Crows- symbols of creation
Wherever crows are, there is magic.
They are symbols of creation & spiritual strenghth….
They remind us to look for oppurtunities to
create & manifest the magic of life.
They are messengers calling to us…
about the creation & magic…
that is alive within our world everyday & available to us.
words : Ted Andrews , Animal Speak
Ruins…
Take something irregular,rough-hewn,
off-kilter,incomplete…and it’s all the more desirable
for it’s flaws…
~ ` ~ Oliver Burkeman
d
A land without ruins is a land without
memories – a land without momories is
a land without history.
~ ` ~ Abram Joseph Ryan
There is nothing as dear as the
sight of ruins.
~ ` ~ Joseph Brodsky
The ruins proclaim the
building was beautiful
~ ` ~ Mohsin Hamid
Old places have
soul.
~ ` ~ Sarah Anderson
Ruins are not empty. They are
sacred places full of
precence…
~ ` ~ John O’ Donohue
The life & passion of a person leaves
an imprint on the
eather of a place…
~ ` ~ John O’ Donohue
Where there is ruin there
is hope for a tressure
~ ` ~ Rumi
What’s old collapses, times change,
And new life blossoms
in the ruins. …
~ ` ~ Friedrich Schiller
Ruin is when man-made
has become part
of nature. …
~ ` ~ Marco Casagrande
The broken eggshell of a civilization
which time has hatched
& devoured
~ ` ~ Julia Ward Howe
A ruin should always be protected but never repaired- thus may we witness
full the lingering legasies of the past
~ ` ~ Walter scott
Some ruins of ancient times
are much more beautiful
than the best buildings
of modern eras!
~ ` ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan
( Alamparai Fort..(ruins) chennai, India,
Alaramparai lies on the east coast called the coramandal coast,
served as fort as well as sea port in ancient tamilnadu.
the existing ruined fort and dock yard was built by
the muslim rulers during the
18th century A.D. )
Grey Visage…
“ There is mystery behind that masked grey visage
, and ancient life force, delicate and mighty,
awesome and enchanted, commanding the silence
ordinarily reserved for mountain peaks,
great fires, and the sea.”
~ ` ~ Peter Matthiessen
Fishing…
Every day is a new day.
It is better to be lucky…
but I would rather be exact.
Then when luck comes
you are ready…
To hell with
luck…
I ‘ll bring the luck
with me…
My big fish must be
somewhere…
As wave is driven by
each wave…
The world breaks everyone..
and afterward…
some are strong at
the broken place…
But man is not made
of defeat …
a man can be destroyed..
but not
defeated…
Men go fishing all their
lives..
without realizing,
its not the fish
they are after
(~ ` ~ Henry David )
Fishing is much more than
fish…
It is the great occasion when we may
return to the fine simplicity
of our forefathers…
( ~ ` ~ Herbert Hoover )
( Words: Ernest Hemingway )
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 )
Burst forth…
There is something fierce &
terrible in me,
eligible to burst forth.
I dare not tell it in
words.
~ ` ~ Walt Whitman
Time…
Being with you & not
being with you
is the only way I
have to measure
time.
~ ` ~ Jorge Luis Borges
Happiness…
On a cloudy day, the clouds hide the sun,
but the sun is always there in
the sky…
Like the sun, happiness is often hidden by
the clouds of thoughts & worries…
You have to scatter &dissolve the clouds to
experience it…
All you have to do is calm down your mind &
feelings, because when there is a quiet mind
& inner peace, happiness emerges
from within you…
You don’t have to create happiness, because though
you may not believe it, it is a part of your
essence , but is just hidden…
…happiness is there within you.
just calm your mind & stay relaxed...
…what you need to do is strive not to allow
your feelings get upset by
your memories...
Inner peace & happiness are inter connected.
you want more happiness ?
Learn to calm your mind make
it less restless…
It is an inseparable part of your consciousness,
of your essence, & comes out
where your mind
is free from disturbing &
constant thinking…
...when the mind gets quiet you experience the
happiness in you…
...the treasure is there , whether you see it
or not. so is happiness.
…it is always here , only hidden by
constant thinking
& worries…
Do not let worries
hide
your
Happiness…
Location : Samanar Hills ( Jain hills) keelakuilkudi, Near Madurai, Tamil Nadu. India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanar_Hills)
Words: adapted from an article by Remez Sasson
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 )
Fade away…?
Life, it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else…
No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try…
(~ ` ~ Metallica—fade to black)
Forest…
How impossible it is to walk though the forest
without telegraphing
your presence…
~ ` ~ Zen
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 )
Grey Visage…
“ There is mystery behind that masked grey visage,
and ancient life force, delicate and mighty,
awesome and enchanted,
commanding the silence ordinarily reserved for mountain peaks,
great fires, and the sea.”
` ~ ` Peter Matthiessen,
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 )
Fight…
Be selective in your battles.
Sometimes peace is better than being right.
“Choose your battles wisely.
After all, life isn’t measured by how many times you stood up to fight.
It’s not winning battles that makes you happy, but it’s how many times you turned away and chose to look into a better direction.
Life is too short to spend it on warring. Fight only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go.”
C.JoyBell C
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…)
Ocean…
“How inappropriate to call this planet earth
When it is quite clearly Ocean “
~` Arthur .c. Clarke
Life is always beautiful,
just find where you stand &
enjoy it…
Every wave has a
story to tell….
“ In a drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans….
in one aspect of you
are found all the aspects of existence “
~~ khalil Gibran
Walking by the ocean…
following birth and death…
Dreaming big….
unlearning…
“The wonder of nature
with it’s infinite form & colors ,
the sages call : Illusion “
~~ Upanishads
( location : The Andaman, Havelock, Neil islands…India )
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 )
Living rocks -Jain hill – Aritapati
Silence and Self-control is non-violence.
~~~ Lord Mahavira
Half a mile to the north west of the village of Arittapatti is a hillock called Kalinjamalai
( Arittapatti village is Near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, In India )
Arittapatti was to be a flourishing Jaina centre until the
Ninth century…
This is confirmed by the period rock carving of a seated Tirthankara, canopied by a triple umbrella over his head;
Non-injury to all living beings is the only religion.” (first truth of Jainism) “In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self, and should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such injury as would appear undesirable to us if inflicted upon ourselves.”
“This is the quintessence of wisdom; not to kill anything. All breathing, existing, living sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away. This is the pure unchangeable Law. Therefore, cease to injure living things.”
“All living things love their life, desire pleasure and do not like pain; they dislike any injury to themselves; everybody is desirous of life and to every being, his life is very dear.”
Yogashastra (Jain Scripture) (c. 500 BC)”
On the eastern face of the hill is a cavern with a drip-ledge cut into the outer face of the rock.
On the brow of the cave is found a Bramhi inscription which has been dated to between the second and first century B.C.
The inscription, engraved as a single line with 33 letters and running for 3.10 metres, reads as follows: ilanjiy vel mapparavan makan emayavan nalmuzhaukai kotupithavan.
It means, “Emayavan, son of Mapparavan, chief of Ilanji, has caused the carving of this auspicious cave.”
“Mahavira proclaimed in India that religion is a reality and not a mere social convention.
It is really true that salvation can not be had by merely observing external ceremonies.
Religion cannot make any difference between man and man.”
~~~Rabindranath Tagore
Jain Thirthankara sculpture is carved out with engravings below.
“We learn from scriptures (Sashtras) and commentaries that Jainism is existing from beginningless time.
This fact is indisputable and free from difference of opinion.
There is much historical evidence on this point.”
‑‑ Lokamanya Bala Gangadhar Tilak
The beautiful rock formations was what which drew me to this place…
do take a look at my post Balance... here
These rocks hide some deep meaning ..
only our eyes need to see them…
These rocks give you a Religious sense of Awe…
The silence is very real….
You can feel it..
Seemingly close enough to reach out
and touch…
They don’t talk..
and that’s what I like about them…
But..
each rock has a story to tell…
( Source: Jain heritage site; The Hindu )
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
Baby & I…
Dear Friends…
It’s exactly one year since I started my blog
Living with a damaged skull
I started with my first post.”unconditional love” .(.https://sriramjanak.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/babys-day-out/)..about elephants babies…
And I thought It would be appropriate to celebrate this I st anniversary with another post about them …
My thanks to all my blogger friends who have supported me through out…..taken time to be here with me and also like /comment on my posts..
The past one year has been a great learning experience for me and I also did damage my skull ( literally ).. 🙂 .which I hope makes me better in the coming years… :-).
This post is for you my friends…
Take care
Sriram Janak
A wee bit of heaven
Drifted down from above—
A handful of happiness,A heart full of love…
The mystery of life,
So sacred and sweet—
The giver of joy,
So deep & complete.
Precious & priceless,
So lovable, too –
The world‘s sweetest miracle,
Baby, is YOU..
~~ Helen Steiner Rice
Mommy says
I am cute….
If you think
I am cute….
You should see my
Butt….
I may be small..
But I am the Boss…
Babies are the link
Between angels & man
~~ unknown
A baby is god’s opinion that
the world should go on…
~~ Carl Sandburg
Sometimes the smallest bundles bring
The greatest joy…
~~ Unknown
Every baby needs
A lap…
~~ Henry Robin
Sometimes the smallest things shine
brightest in our lives…
~~ unknown
Some times It’s the smallest things that
take up the most room in our
Heart…
~~ Winnie the pooh
Living with a damaged skull 