Now we can say we've come out of denial for that particular event.
Emptiness is not loneliness. It is sacred space awaiting your recognition of the Divine inside you.
|
|
---|
I do not hear - I listen. I awaken; so does the universe, because no such thing as the sound of only one hand clapping exists; all things arise in mutual relationship. Living in a world of quiet harmony and peaceful equanimity, I often find myself in the living room of my apartment overlooking Laurel Canyon shortly after the Los Angeles sun rises through a haze of smog and fumes. I sit in a half-lotus position on a blue mat, dressed loosely in yoga whites. This morning kicks-off with ten repetitions of Pranayama breathing. Inhaling beautiful, golden-white energy deep into my lungs slowly, slowly, ... I hold and release. The movement is precise; my chin drops into a center cleft between the clavicle bones while mastoid muscles on both sides of my neck melt into the upper trapezoids, and I have mastered expanding the floating ribs without raising or tightening my shoulders. Upon its release, I hold my breath, bottoming out before inhaling again.
A few feet away sits a plastic bottle of mineral water. The clear liquid is purity inspected, fortified using thirty-six essential minerals and vitamins and contains "green tea;" that's New Age yoga-speak for caffeine - enough G-force raging through the circulatory system keeps one buzzing and meditating for seven days and nights, eyeballs plastered against the wall, hair follicles standing on end - but not mine. After thirty years of koan, meditation, and green tea, well, green tea is murder on hair. I might drink coffee or soda pop or eat a sugar donut, however, I am a knowledgeable shaman, a disciplined yogi if you like - the vehicle is pure and I don't wish to risk feeding baser instincts. The mineral water is called Yo-Go! It awakens this shaman, ears popping, and focuses the senses on such koan as One Hand Clapping, and I also find it useful for cleaning tough lime deposits off shower walls.
"Help, somebody! Help in three-ten!"
After holding each inhalation and exhalation for an extended length of time and polishing off a bottle of Yo-Go!, I channel my spirit guides. Our business together is esoteric, very spiritual. My special field of Eastern practice is subtle energy healing and we are in the process of saving the world. I am in the process of knocking back my second bottle of Yo-Go! and my consciousness is expanding nicely. It is divine in the midst of the mundane. I now contain enough New Age rocket fuel coursing through my vascular system to blast-off for yet unexplored dimensions. I feel the urge to leap up and rip - gracefully - into my first of a series of eighteen asanas (yoga postures).
Momentarily I rise from the mat, yawn, and step to my window overlooking a private courtyard of lush, overgrown banana palms, and next to those a row of potted plants burgeoning under the shade of the palms' rubbery leaves. The sun begins its daily arc from east to west. All is right with the world and I smile to myself ... "Help in-" and slam the window.
This happens: only a muffled noise, a desperate plea in the distance of an otherwise beautiful universe. Taking it to the blue mat, I assume a Mountain posture, standing feet together, buttocks tightly protecting the sacral nerve center, hands at my sides, shoulders back and relaxed with my stomach just a touch forward. This places the center of gravity over my hips. I am organic - growing out of God's aspect called the earth, a piece of the planet. I am a mountain. The Sanskrit word for mountain is tada. I repeat the word, tada, several times. However, bursting full of Yo-Go!, purity inspected, and fortified using thirty-six essential minerals and vitamins, and containing green tea, the word escapes more like a preparatory drum roll - tuh duh! - and I feel my feet will fly into a crotch grabbing, Michael Jackson dance.
Immediately I jump to the Extended Triangle posture: feet spread, arms outstretched like airplane wings and I am now bending to my right until the hand on the end of my straight right arm rests behind my heel. My left arm is reaching above my head and I stare at it. I must meet the position, that is, maintain the position until yoga and I are one. 'Yoga' means 'to unite'. Nothing exists - no thing exists. The universe is empty of 'selfness' - 'thingness'. In a void of dynamic change filled only with relationship, momentary position is everything - I do not look - I see the Great Void, through which Brahman creates itself as numerous aspects of mundane fingers pointing to the divine. Existence is transcendently integrated because each aspect transcends itself to become the whole, and the whole's virtue to become itself is present in each aspect. In the end, the mundane and the divine are one.
The body of the painting shows 'Still Life' with the three key objects of the title, The Curtain, Jug, and Compotier. "Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier" depicts these simple everyday objects in a decorative manner, while giving it a 'Realistic' perspective all along. The special feature of the painting is its unique brushstrokes and harmonious color schemes. At the first glance, the colors look inspired by those of Mother Nature, when they actually are blended with Paul's creative dash of hued fantasies. This painting corroborates the artist's subtle observation skill and his sensuous taste of color blending.
Ambroise Vollard, a dealer from Paris, possessed the painting initially. Later, it cruised through Cornelis Hoogendijk, Paul Rosenberg, Dr Albert C. Barnes, and the Carroll Carstairs Gallery. "Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier" then was sold at a record price, during the auction of Whitney family collection. It further stayed with many other art lovers. This priceless piece was eventually sold as the most expensive painting at Sotheby's, one of the oldest auction houses in New York, on May 10, 1999, for $60,502,500.
Paul Cezanne's keen observations combined with his inspiration from nature, led to the generation of fantastic artworks. Throughout his life, he remained a devoted Roman Catholic. In his own words, "When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God-made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art."
Even after several years of his death, Paul Cezanne is honored as a tremendous milestone in the world of creativity, and he continues to rule every art lover's heart. He is still alive in the form of his precious painting, "Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier," a definite bright star in the sky of 'Modern Painting.'
People are out to buy a piece of art to increase the aesthetic value of their living room. Art is not just a piece of furniture you go out and buy. It is a piece of soul the artist presents in the form of art. We get to see many paintings nowadays in galleries and internet and we just browse over it. Understanding art has never occurred in the minds of middle class people. A new genre of artists are emerging who want the masses to understand and appreciate art.
Here comes the need for understanding art. Landscapes can be easily understood on observation of painting however the deep feeling and motivation to create this piece must also be gone into. A common man does not understand why the artist has blue figures or distorted body images which are far away from reality and sometimes very confusing. Every artist represents his thoughts and experiences in the form of art and one can understand the background and attitude of the artist. Still life sometimes are so confusing that a simple person does not understand why broken pots are made into a piece of art, and to add here, displayed at exorbitant prices. The most difficult to understand is abstract art. Splash of colours, lines or sometimes just black and white huge paintings are seen which becomes all the more difficult for common man to understand who lays importance on clear bright images as seen in reality and nature.
Does a piece become art when made by a famous artist? There is no simple answer to this. Art is represented in free form of expression and every artist is free to express. The artist owns his piece of work and is proud of it. Awareness is needed regarding art and as other fields this field also needs educating the masses about the aesthetics of art. Simple art would be most welcome by the common man. Nature is already very beautiful and we cannot make a better one so why not make simple art which everyone can understand.
Body painting is an art that uses the human body as a canvas. It is a form of painting pictures or spreading colours on human body to look is pleasant to the eyes of the viewers. It is an artistic application of exotic colours over the parts of body. No part is now a day safe from body painting! But the most of the work is done on the face.
When a person desire to show his or her desires on his or her face, he or she approaches a professional body painter. These painters paint and draw figures on face. Among young boys and girls, such face painting is in vogue when attending a party of a celebration. Festivals are preferred places for the body painters.
The History: In fact the human race as a whole is very fond of painting the bodies. This form of art is beloved to be a prehistoric one. In past we were used to paint our bodies with materials like natural dyes, paints and pigments. In some cases we use ash, vegetable colours and clay, too.
The Beliefs: It is believed that the paintings that we do make on our bodies have some extra sensual powers. Some of these paintings are thought to have magical powers with which one could ward off evil spirits or the tribal enemies. Such was thinking many races in past. However today, the painting of bodies is coined with celebration of auspicious occasions like New Year or a dance party. Same practices are prevailing in the indigenous populations of the countries like New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and certain parts of Africa.
If you are interested in seeing more art on human nude body and the nude paintings of males and females, you please visit these links.
Ever see people having their body full of art? This art is called the body art. People paint their bodies to portray their feelings and thoughts; some even try to represent creativity. There are different categories under body art. These categories include painting, piercing, scarring, tattooing and shaping. All these represent different artistic creativity on the body. In some cultures body art is a ritual and in some cultures people try to portray themselves as unique with the help of body art. Some types of body arts can be really bizarre and getting them on the body may inflict pain. These include scarring, piercing and tattooing. But many people are willing to go through the pain to get the art on their body.
Painting is a simple technique in which special paint is used to color the body. Drawings of many things like butterflies, lizards and other things can be found on people's bodies. The interesting thing is that these paintings portray the creativity and thoughts of people. People put paint on their body when they are cheering for their teams. Also in some cultures painting the face is a ritual like the kadakali makeup is a type of art. Piercing is also considered a type of body art. Piercing is done by puncturing the part of human body and wearing jewelry. Although this process is painful but many people opt for this kind of body art. Also piercing is done in many cultures as part of ritual especially in India.
Another form of art on body is scarring which is also a painful process. It is rarely found and is considered as a ritual. The basic process involves scratching, etching or cutting designs, words and pictures as a permanent body modification. The more common type of art on body is tattooing. Many people have tattoo on their bodies. There are two kinds of tattoos which include the permanent and temporary tattooing. The process of tattooing involves the insertion of ink into the dermis of the skin. There are special equipments used for this purpose and it is also painful. All these kinds of art represent some thought. As it is said "Art is never meaningless".
During the 1st World War two American soldiers called Don and Bob were injured simultaneously. Both of them were fast friends. Don died immediately but Bob recovered after he was treated by competent doctors. The problem was that when Bob became fit and healthy a great change was noted in his attitude and behavioral pattern. Bob hence forth behaved exactly like his beloved dead friend Don. In fact Bob called himself "Don". After the war ended, Bob left for Don's home instead of his own residence. There Bob met Don's parents and he experienced that very joy which Don previously experienced.
Despite Bob's psyche and behavior being exactly like that of Don yet Bob's gross physical body was not like Don at all. Meaning Bob's body was entirely his own. Don's parents refused to accept Bob as their son. This made "Don" in Bob's psyche/soul sad and sorrowful. Hence Bob recounted past incidences of Don's life which were known only to Don and his parents. Thus Don's parents were convinced that although Bob was physically different from their son Don yet Bob's soul and psyche perfectly matched those of Don. It was clear that Don's soul had taken over Bob's psyche. This incident now posed a great challenge to Modern Science especially Psychology.
A very similar amazing incident took place in Spain. One day 2 girls were traveling together in one bus. One was called Hala and the other Mirtgol. After some time the bus got involved in a road accident. Mirtgol died immediately in this mishap. Although Hala was not injured yet out of sheer fright she became unconscious. She regained consciousness after a few hours. The relatives of both these girls were informed about this bus accident. Relatives of both these girls reached the accident site. Hala's father ran towards his daughter crying aloud: Dear Hala! But he was amazed to hear Hala saying: I am not Hala. I am Mirtgol! Saying thus Hala ran towards Mirtgol's father. When her relatives felt that Hala was experiencing a memory loss situation they placed a mirror in front of her face. Instead of her delusion ending Hala exclaimed: Why has Mirtgol's face changed (into that of Hala)? Hala's father was a humble farmer. Hence Hala was not very highly educated. Mirtgol's father was a well known Professor. Mirtgol was a college student and was well versed in many subjects.
Hala's father some how managed to take Hala back to their residence. Hala went back to study in that high school where she was studying so far. Over there all her co-students and teachers were amazed to see a great change in Hala's behavior and attitude. One day Hala went to the college where Mirtgol studied when the latter was alive. There Hala gave a scholarly lecture on Spinozoa's scientific teachings to a class of college students. All the college teachers now concluded that it was Mirtgol's soul that had manifested in Hala's physical body. Certain experiments too were conducted on Hala's behavior and psyche pattern and they too gave the above conclusion.
The world famous painter Goya's soul entered the inner personality of a widow called Henroitte. This is a well known episode in America. In this new body of the widow Goya painted a masterpiece painting called "Cow-herd Maiden". On the other hand Henroitte had never in her life time painted even an ordinary painting. Hence forth American scientists accepted that Goya's soul indeed had entered Henroitte's body which explained the creation of such a marvelous painting!
This incident took place on 7th November 1918 during the 1st World War. A French boy called Ted shouted aloud one day saying: Dad is about to die. Ted's father was fighting this war for France in a far off region. Ted continued screaming: My father is shut in a dark cell. He cannot see anything because of darkness. Ted's relatives could not understand why he was shouting aloud thus. In a few seconds Ted became unconscious. After a certain length of time when Ted regained consciousness he said: Now my father will become alright. Ted's family members at that time presumed that whatever Ted spoke before and after becoming unconscious about his father was a bad dream seen by Ted. Thus they all went about their chores and forgot about this incident.
After the 1st World War ended and Ted's father returned home he remembered that incident related above. Ted's father said tat on 6th November I escaped the jaws of death. Everyone asked Ted's father as to why and how he escaped death? Ted's father replied: On that fateful day I entered a chamber of deadly gas fumes. Thus my life was in great peril. My vision too became so weak that I could virtually see nothing. At that time a boy similar to my son Ted came near me. Of course it's a wonder how he could come there in the midst of a raging war! He opened the door of the gas chamber and after holding my hand he helped me escape from the chamber. Immediately my army unit soldiers realized what had happened and they took me to a nearby hospital. While Ted's father spoke thus Ted's family members immediately understood why Ted who was miles away from the war front had cried and shouted aloud thus on that day in his home.
A similar incident took place in the life of an Italian priest called Alphonsis Ligadari on 21st November 1974. On that eventful day Ligadari went into such a deep sleep state that despite others trying to wake him up he did not wake up. Many wondered whether he was dead. In order to test this they checked his breathing process, pulse etc and found that the priest was very much alive. For many hours he slept like a log. When he awakened he saw that he was surrounded by many well wishers and friends. Ligadari told all of them: I must share with you some very dire news. Our beloved Pope has just left this mortal world. Everyone said: You have been sleeping like a log for quite some time now, hence how do you know about revered Pope's death?
Ligadari said: I had left this body of mine and had traveled (astral body) to Rome. I have just returned from there. And yet his friends thought that Ligadari has just woken up from a dream and that he must have seen Pope dying in his dream only. After 4 days they got news that revered Pope had passed away. Further his death had occurred exactly at the time Ligadari was in deep-sleep like state. Thus everyone was dumbfounded and wonderstruck!
Despite an individual staying in one region of our planet Earth, he/she can send 'messages' to other parts of the world via his/her soul force (telepathy). In the examples given (above paragraphs) knowingly or unknowingly the subtle body was used as a medium of message transfer. If we activate our subtle body many important and otherwise impossible tasks can be carried out with its activated infinite divine power. In the year 1626 a similar incident took place in Algeria's Captain Tubo's life. It gives us an in depth proof of the existence of our subtle body and its infinite potential. Once, Captain Tubo was returning from a very small village of Algeria, after treating some ill patients there. The village chief Abdul accompanied Captain Tubo when the latter was returning.
After Abdul thanked Captain Tubo Abdul also told him about the miracles with reference to an awakened subtle body of a human being. Not only did the Captain ignore what Abdul said but also exclaimed that such miracles are mere fantasies of our mind. But Abdul refused to budge from his viewpoint and he told Captain Tubo that he could prove every thing about the existence of this miraculous subtle body. And yet when Capatain Tubo shook his head in disbelief Abdul entered a short meditative state and then said: Capatian! Look behind you. When the Capatain looked behind he saw in amazement that on a wall hung his most favorite painting. This painting was actually the one which the Capatain had lovingly adorned the walls of his residence in Paris i.e. miles away from this tiny Algerian village.
It is simply dumbfounding to note that on this very day Captain Tubo's father Pierre lodged a complaint with the Paris police saying that his son's precious painting valued at 1 million Rupees was stolen from their residence. The Police Commissioner was Pierre's close friend and hence when he got to know about this 'theft' he ordered his best Secret Service Agents to solve this robbery case. It goes without saying that none of them could recover the painting. These police officials checked for finger prints, foot marks etc of the robber or any such clue but amazingly none were found. Pierre then contacted his son Tubo in Algeria and told him about the painting's theft. When Tubo told his father and the Police Commissioner about the painting seen by him in far off Algeria everyone was dumbstruck.
If we deeply reflect and analyze the above incidents we can get due inspirations, directions and wisdom from them. Hence we can definitely conclude that beyond this visible physical human body lies a subtle body which cannot be seen by our gross eyesight. The fundamental unit of the gross body is 'protoplasm'. Hence what is the fundamental unit of our subtle body? This question needs to be meditated and analyzed deeply and yet it is the bare reality that within the gross body exists, an invisible subtle body. The existence of a subtle body is clearly mentioned in Indian Philosophy (Vedas, Upanishads, Yoga texts etc). Indian scriptures proclaim emphatically that the subtle body is infinitely more potent and miraculous than our gross body made of flesh, bones, blood etc. It is a fact that our gross body functions totally under the direction and power of the subtle body. If the subtle body leaves (at death) the gross body becomes lifeless and a mere corpse.
This subtle body is made up of powerful vital forces. There are 5 very potent vital forces and are represented by 5 demigods or Divine Principles. Our scriptures say that even if one demigod helps a human being attain immortality imagine what that person can attain both materially and spiritually if all 5 Divine Principles/demigods help/influence this human being subtly? The following incidents (next chapter) can give us a glimpse of the omnipotence of these 5 Divine Principles/demigods. With our gross sense organs and psyche we can never get its actual experience. It can only be attained by a psyche which is sacred and focused (concentrated one pointedly).
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
The Matrix of Festival Body Painting Photos
|
|
---|