A Mayan Prayer

Most of us were at home today, watching the news, many did'nt sleep at all last night and most sad of all at least a hundred people lost their lives.

As I was cleaning through my things, I found this Mayan prayer I can relate to very much. If I had to choose a prayer to say , this would be it and I cannot think of a more appropriate time when we need positive vibrations.

Mayan Prayer

From the east, house of Light,
may wisdom dawn in us,
so we may see all things in clarity!
from the north, house of night,
may wisdom ripen in us,
so we may know all from within!
from the west, house of transformation,
may wisdom be transformed into right action,
so we may do what must be done!
from the south, house of the eternal sun,
may right action reap the harvest,
so we may enjoy the fruits of planetary being!
from above, House of heaven,
where star people and ancestors gather,
may their blessings come to us now!
from below, house of the earth,
may the heartbeat of her crystal core
bless us with harmonies to end all war!
from the centre, galactic source,
which is everywhere at once,
may everything be known as the light of mutual love!

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Tomorrow is New Moon, a day to sow seeds of new thoughts and actions, dreams of a brighter future.

Love + light

Thinking of Christmas.

3 Things I love.

The cloud has lifted and I'm back to sharing things that make me happy :D
Earlier I had started to make a list of 100 things I love / am grateful for, this time I will share three more.

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6. Illustration of leaf forms.
This dictionary has been around in my family for so long that entire sections of it have crumbled away, therefore everything ends after alphabet v , ha ha , but it is still very dear to me....What I love here is this particular page , illustrating the various forms of a leaf, don't you just love the detail?


7. Children's story books.
Another peculiar interest of mine is to collect children's books with illustrations - magic-realism/ fables/ mythology . In fact I once did illustrations for a freind's story which hav'nt been published yet.


Aww! love this detail , the author has dedicated the book to her father, so warm.



pages from the book......wish I could share with you the story, feel like a child again.

8. Fish. J'adore this circular shoal of fishes in a chines paper-cut. I'm very drawn to the form of a fish, and it's a good thing that they are an auspicious symbol too, for example in the the Tibetan Buddhist tradition part of the eight auspicious signs, are a pair golden leaping fish.

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Just celebrating some beauty can cheer you up and it is so true it must lie in the smaller things in life.

Love + light !

The monologue- Passing thoughts.

Passing thoughts , passing clouds.

Monologue

Today, I did a whole lot of talking..........at work, at an art get-together, coffee with a friend, bumped into more freinds, yack, yack, yack and yet now that I am alone I think it is harder to cease a conversation with others than with yourself !

Wether we are all by ourselves or in a room full of people, truth is, we are'nt listening to what the others are saying, we are only listening to ourselves! I know so because I see myself do it every time......I try to quieten fom within but the talkative mind drums up again!

On another passing thought, I cannot always make sense of what I am doing working at a gallery, or for example, today, why was I at a get-together where the key words were -

market, buyers, contemporary, modern, auction houses and oh! one sensible person said 'aesthetics'. I often wonder what karmic lessons have I got to learn from being here?

What comes to mind is most unlikely,

" Sometimes be in the mountains , sometimes be in the market" - Osho.

Love + light :)

Rumi and the inner voice.

Pale sunlight,

pale the wall.

Love moves away.

The light changes.

I need more grace

than I thought.
- Rumi

"The Essential Rumi" compiled and translated by Coleman Barks and published by HarperSanFrancisco (1994).

Picture: from SUFI Expressions of The Mystic Quest by Laleh Bakhtiar, one of my fav books to go through as of now for the pictures as well as the text.

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What if something is bothering you? Can you accept your limitations as you blurt you are cracking while keeping appearances under pressure? How dignified do you feel with your straight face since you do not fool yourself? You know you do not feel good inside.
During such times, I try to think things through, to pause. Even though I may be pensive or melancholic, rays of compassion from somewhere touch me or if nothing else, the emotional pain gradually subsides. In the aftermath Goenkaji’s words always ring true, “It is ephemeral, this too shall pass away”. And I feel so foolish for amplifying every word and action in my mind.

Today suddenly it came to me, Rumi’s words, "Pale sunlight,
pale the wall...need more grace than I thought" - one of my favourite verses.
Also this thought, “The seeds you sow today are the fruits of tomorrow”.

I'm sure you identify with answers such as these which just pop up in your heart/mind, calming you down, reassuring you, reminding you to stay on a higher vibration so that even though you waver you regain your balance and simply walk on.


Love +light

Woman and leaf.

Woman and leaf

This is a water colour on paper I did more than two years ago. I have not repeated this theme recently. I chose this watercolour which is quiet and shows inward reflection, perhaps because thesedays that is how I feel.

The colours of the leaf and of the woman are those of autumn, they also reveal how the watercolour began, the first washes of warm colour, then the darker colours surrounding the two motifs

There is very faint horizon which is really the outline of a low mountain range. I could see this mountain from the window of my room in Leh (Ladakh), the hour is when night falls and you see the first stars and the clouds reflect the very last light after the sun has gone down.

Although my paintings are realistic they are done from the mind's eye. I find this practise very interesting, it allows me to see, feel, absorb and live with a certain idea and then one day I draw or write about it from my heart-mind. One could say there is a poetic feeling to my work.

The leaf is commonly known as camel's foot. I'm drawn to leaves and I like to make studies of them in watercolours or simply to pick them up and have a closer look for their beautiful colour, shape.

There! I have waxed eloquent enough ....will post more images of sketches and drawings since I would like to give the feeling of an artist's diary/journal/sketch-book which is more personal.

Love + light

Guru - thoughts on what is our/my understanding of "Guru".

It is fun to see how things are connected. Reading a book or 'reading from the book of life' as the Chinese say (which means to learn from experience - life itself) can make you see deeper, often very unexpectedly something reveals itself to you of which you were'nt even aware you were thinking of or had stopped thinking about for a while. When you least expect it, you read about it and the inter-connection/ relation takes you by surprise. In one such moment, I was reading 'the Zen commandments' by Dean Sluyter, where he elaborates about who is a "Guru",

"Related to the word "gravity", it signifies someone who's heavy where the rest of us are lite, who has the gravitas to be grounded, as immovably as a rock, in the unchanghing nature of reality, even as the rest of us our blown away like dry leaves.........In some Asian cultures one might call a dozen people "my guru". Every teacher, as he or she points toward infinity, stands in a slightly different place; the spot on the horizon where all those pointing fingers converge is where we want to go."

After reading this, I thought of the day I visited my girl-freind. She was in the midst of preparing her home for Diwali and when I asked her what she was doing, she said she was cleaning the space where she kept her "Gurus". I liked the fact that she did'nt say "Gods", by calling them "Gurus" she had intensified their benevolent presence. No more were they deities to be feared but Gurus, pointing to us the way.

Thinking about what the author says of having many Gurus, I feel fortunate to have been introduced to Buddhism, I don't take to it outwardly by way of rituals but have allowed it to grow slowly. I feel blessed to invoke Medicine Budda or as my husband affectionately and respectfullys says in Tibetan/Ladakhi - Sangyes Men-Lha and Sakyamuni Buddha or the historical Buddha. I feel happy to think of Guruji Goenkaji and my Reikhi teacher Dr. N.K.Sharma. Although, I may not see or meet my teachers/Gurus I feel happy simply to think of them, I am lifted even if it is an inch.

To all my Teachers of the Past, Present and the Future -
my deepest gratitude.

Love and Light.

5 Things I love/ am grateful for.

After reading Samantha Honey's November cheat sheet and blog I decided to make a list of things I'm grateful for. I've added my own take on it . I'm naming it as things I'm grateful for as well things I love since it is almost interchangeable for me. The list is supposed to be of a 100. But I'm making mine 5 at a time on this blog in no particular order. I have simply added as it came to me. So, here goes :)


1. Rigzin and his newspaper.
There are times when I wish there was no news, he can stay like that for what may seem like hours! Ironically, it is also what I love about him :)


2.Beads! love them, am always curious about different shapes, stones, colours....I only buy one when I feel I'm ready to enjoy something new. Here, I love the hand - painted look of the ceramic beads. It is an on-going love.

3.Butterfly! this pretty little creature sat on my fern earlier in the day...am glad I got a decent shot of it. Love such moments!

5. Sunlight coming through the leaves. Love mornings, afternoons of such translucent beauty. Simply watching the light is enough learning for the day sometimes.

5. Breakfast time. Am grateful for my time in the morning before I head of into the 'world'. It is time of quiet repose where I drink tea or coffee, watch the plants, trees outside, read the paper...simply be.

I hope you have enjoyed the 5 things I love/am grateful for. I intend to keep thinking of more.

Think of a list of things you enjoy and make one even if it is for yourself. I promise,it will most certainly leave you feeling happier

Have a lazy Sunday :)

Love and Peace

Gaurika's Rangoli.

This Diwali my girl-freind invited me help make the Rangoli. Of course, Gaurika did it all by herself but not without me babysitting her little daughter who made her own creations with the coloured powders. What remains of that afternoon are memories and these pictures. The Rangolis are all swept away making them so ephemeral, so beautiful.

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First, she draws a sketch (as you can see she has studied painting in art school), then she makes a base with a mixture of mud (suited for this purpose)and water. Then she draws out her lines with loose white powder. Next, she fills it in with colours that come to her, notice the turquoise and purples, so Piscean!
The final touches - much like in the sacred art of thangka painting where the 'opening of the eyes' brings the thangka to life, she adds fresh petals, candle and tea-lights giving the Rangoli its own radiance.
Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali !

Tasting with Heart

A delightful gastronomi-cal series on National Geographic - The Food Lover's Guide to the Planet, has me lying on my stomach, sprawled in front of the T.V Set...and it has some brain food as well, meaning you travel around the world learning about – molecular gastronomy (!), trompe l’oeil in food, food bloggers and in the last episode, combining aromatherapy oils with food and a chef in France who takes inspiration from walks in his garden - plucking this, smelling that...mmmm....now we’re talking

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I partucularly loved the French scientist who apparently defined the term 'molecular gastronomy'. Here is a man of science after your heart, he says, good food is not about technique or skill it but about love! So go watch a programme about food and enjoy your dal chawal or even a chai at work even more or better still experiment!

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My Food Story

Spring time in Bejing, circa 2008, in a certain Golden Lake Cafe, I waited long for this steaming vision . The vegetables, sauce and the noodles were so delicious, I hurt my mouth trying to eat it quickly since I was getting late to be somewhere. This meal is one of 'the' favourite meals I have had the pleasure to..wait, not eat but to 'see, smell, touch and taste'. Thanks Chef! Xie- xie!

Bon apetit to all!

Love + light!