Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Om Mani Padme Hum…

This six syllabled mantra , the chant with which the Tibetan Buddhists  aspire to transform the impure body, speech, and mind of the individual into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha is associated with the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva or the Compassionate Bodhisattva

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The image above is of the Cintâmanicakra Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva seen at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum at Singapore.

Given below is the text of the mantra in Tibetan script

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Image courtesy: Restore Your Soul

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Classic CP…

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Sometimes, places look really different when you visit them at odd times…. a few days back, a friend and fellow photographer Paromita (Paro for friends and suddentwilight on twitter) dropped in from the City of Eternal Rains “Mumbai” :-) and a few Delhi based photogs planned a reunion, and it included Udit, Ankush, Priyam and Naina. Of course as is the norm, only Ankush turned up and joined Paro and me for a shoot at CP. Considering the fact that we were scheduled to meet at 0700 hrs, the no-shows were not unexpected….

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Early mornings end up giving one some incredible lessons, and that morning at CP was no different.

Usually one leads a dog’s life

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especially when life throws you curve balls

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and all options are closed

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but you need to have faith

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to get back onto your feet

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else you get swept away …….

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ashes to ashes & dust to dust :-)

 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

serenity in life….

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Often life comes with unanticipated quirks that some call fate, some destiny or some inevitability. To those who are  spiritual it is the hand of God or to us Indians it is Karma, which simplified could mean the inevitable and preordained course of life that is guided by the sum total of deeds done in our past lives.

I remember reading a book by Dr Brain Weiss that a friend asked me to read that spoke about soul mates and how one finds the most unlikely people at the cross roads of life. This was an amplification of the concept of karma and reincarnation, told from a what at that time appeared to be a western viewpoint. probably need to revisit that book. Might even find it in my collection Smile

Anyways, the reason I wrote this post was not to ramble, but to share what I do whenever I reach any cross road in life, and that is to use those words penned so beautifully and attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr ….

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Of course this is part of a longer prayer that can be seen here…

Whenever I am in doubt, all I do is seek guidance from the lines above and I find peace…..

PS: Gazing at the serene Buddha also helps Winking smile