Zen and the Art of Photography II
" Take a running jump I " © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2016
The German philosopher Eugen Herrigel (1884-1955) taught philosophy in Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai , Japan between 1924-1929; at the same time he studied Kyudo – zen archery under Master Awa Kenzo (1880 - 1939). He returned to Germany to take up the chair of philosophy at Erlangen. Seven years later he published later he published "Die Ritterliche Kunst des Bogenschiessens" (The Knightly Art of Archery). This formed the basis of his seminal book Zen in the Art of Archery: Training the Mind and Body to Become One. This short book was influential in introducing Zen to Western audiences in the late 1940s and beyond.
On a simplistic level, it is a guide to the mental and physical exercises to perfect the motor learning required for archery; on a deeper level it is an honest account of one man’s journey to complete abandonment of ‘the self’ and the ego principles that we use to define ourselves. For example, Herrigel describes how he was baffled by paradoxes of being taught that art must become artless, at being taught to aim at himself. Herrigel made copious notes on Zen. After his death, they were edited by his widow, Gusty, and Herman Tausen and published as Der Zen- Weg. They were translated into english, revised by the English philosopher, Buddhist and Episcopal priest, Alan Watts ( 1915- 1973) and published as " The way of Zen" . Watts went to school next to Canterbury Cathedral but trained in Zen in New York ( his mother in law , Ruth Everett Fuller, was married to Zen Master Roshi Sokei-an Sasaki, who acted as his mentor); later he moved to San Fransisco and studied Hindu Vedanta as well as chinese calligraphy. In the revision of " The Way of Zen" , Watts drew on the Indian and Chinese underpinnings of Zen, general semantics ( from the works of Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950; and cybernetics from the early work of Norbert Wiener (1894 - 1964).
The connection between Herrigel's book on Archery and Art and Photography starts with the Fauvist and Cubist painter George Braque (1882 – 1963). Braque’s earliest work was impressionistic but soon became heavily influenced by Henri Matisse, Alain Derain, Raoul Dufy and the other beasts (Fauves); as such he employed colour to depict emotion. Influenced by Paul Cezanne’s work on multiple perspective, Braque’s own work incorporated an interest in the effects of light, geometry and simultaneous persective – the basis of Analytical Cubism. At the age of 26, Braque started a collaboration with Picasso in co-founding Cubism; Picasso had also been influenced by Cezanne. Braque’s still life paintings patterns express an essence of the objects viewed rather than direct representations. A decisive development in Cubism occurred in the Pyrenees in 1911 where Braque painted side by side with Pablo Picasso – they each produced paintings which appear indistinguishable from the other’s.
Braque gave the French humanist photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908- 2004) Herrigel’s book on Zen and archery. Cartier Bresson had studied art and literature at the University of Cambridge (1928-1929). He went to India in 1947, on behalf of Magnum Photos, the agency he cofounded with the war photographer, Robert Capa. the year before the publication of Herrigel’s book on Zen Buddhism and Archery. Cartier Bresson photographed Mahatma Gandhi fasting for peace, leaving Meherauli, a Moslem shrine and on Jan 30th 1948; one hour later Gandhi had been assassinated. Cartier Bresson went on to capture the weeping crowds around Gandhi, Prime Minister Pandit Nehru announcing Gandhi’s death and Gandhi’s cremation on the banks of the Sumna river in Dehli.
Gandhi once said that Shakyamuni Buddha was the greatest teacher of the Hindu concept of ahimsa (non-violence) and that he "taught us to defy appearances and trust in the final triumph of Truth and Love." Not killing is also the first of the five Zen Buddhist precepts. Cartier Bresson took almost half a million photographs; they distilled the chaos of existence into a studied geometry so rich and vigorous that it seemed to foreground simple truths. Clearly Hindu / Buddhist ideas influenced Cartier Bresson; he recommended and referenced Herrigel’s book frequently in relationship to how he saw photography. However, Cartier Bresson would have received Herrigel's book from Braque after his interaction with Gandhi - it is tempting to postulate that reflection on Gandhian teaching had already influenced Cartier Bresson. The “inner child” or in Zen the “beginner’s mind” are all exercises designed to return a person to a more supple state of flow. In his book, " The Mind's Eye ", Cartier Bresson wrote about being able to " sniff the final image" and " To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy ".
Similarly, just as discipline serves an unexpected purpose for Kyudo, freeing archers from the endless choices that are common place in modern life, the same applies to the master photographer/ artist. Thus, every action is predetermined, except one, the moment they release the arrow. The analogy with photography is obvious, the arrow release is replaced by the camera shutter; Cartier Bresson coined the phrase " The decisive moment ". Zen Archers are all trained to do exactly the same sequences, the same steps, and the same techniques. What divides each moment is the shot. It is the record of these small shifts, that translates to a different outcome, for the archer a different score, for the photographer a different image and message.
The image I have shown accompanying this article is entitled “ Take a running jump I “. It shows two boys simultaneously jumping into a lake with great determination. That they have performed this action before and learnt the motor action is shown by how close they are above the water and the synchronous position of their limbs. The water is so still that the reflection of the boys’ legs is clearly seen. A single point in time is frozen; the boys appear to float above the water moments before they are immersed.
At the culmination of this discourse on history, philosophy, politics, neuroscience and art, grounded in ego thought, I respectfully return you, the reader, to the Heart Sutra:
The Great Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra
Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practising deep Prajna Paramita,
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty,
transforming all suffering and distress.
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness,
emptiness no other than form;
form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;
sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness are also like this.
Shariputra, all things are essentially empty -
not born, not destroyed; not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness;
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,
no colour, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;
no seeing and so on to no thinking;
no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,
and so on to no old age and death
and also no ending of old age and death;
no suffering, cause of suffering, cessation, path;
no wisdom and no attainment. Since there is nothing to attain,
the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita,
with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance and therefore no fear;
far beyond delusive thinking right here is Nirvana.
All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by Prajna Paramita,
attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is
the great mantra, the vivid mantra,
the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,
which completely removes all suffering.
This is truth, not mere formality.
Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,
set forth this mantra and proclaim:
Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate
Bodhi Svaha!
REFERENCES
1. Eugen Herrigel (1948) Zen in the Art of Archery: Training the Mind and Body to Become One (Arkana,1948)
2. Eugen Herrigel (1936 ) The Knightly Art of Archery (Die Ritterliche Kunst des Bogenschiessens) Zeitschrift fur Japanologie (pp.193-212)
http://www.aumphotos.com/zenarchery.pdf
3. Alan Watts (1960 ) " The way of Zen" Vintage, Pantheon Books ISBN 0-375-70510-4.
4. Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950; Manhood Of Humanity The Science and Art of Human Engineering (1921, EP Dutton);
5. Alfred Korzybski Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics ( 5th edition 1994, Institute of General Semantics)
6.. Norbert Wiener Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948, MIT Press)
7. Henri Cartier Bresson (1999) The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers. Aperture ISBN: 9780893818753
© ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2016
Siempre en mi cabeza - always in my head: Truth in documentary photography
The image of a young refugee from the Syrian holocaust sitting in a street with her child on her lap made me think of the words below published by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Please click on the blue links:
Photography has often been perceived as an objective, and therefore unbiased ,medium for capturing and preserving historical moments. Yet the choices made by a photographer—including how the image is composed composed, what is left in or out of the shot, and how it may be manipulated after it is taken—necessarily impacts how we perceive the image. It also raises critical questions about how willingly we accept any one photograph photograph as the definitive truth.
Photographs can bear witness to a definitive moment in history or even serve as a catalyst for change. They can foster sympathy and awareness or, alternatively, offer critical commentary on an historical figure or event. The photographers discussed here aim to wordlessly capture the essence of events they witnessed—though the question of accuracy is always up for debate.
Zen and the Art of Photography I
The Four Great Vows of Boddhisattva
Sentient beings are numberless,
I vow to save them.
Desires are inexhaustible,
I vow to put an end to them.
The Dharmas are boundless,
I vow to master them.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable,
I vow to attain it.
Thirteen members of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) North East Contemporary Group, including the RPS Yorkshire regional organiser Mary Crowther ARPS, met at the Royal Oak pub in York on 16th January 2015. Participants had travelled from as far afield as Derbyshire and Middlesborough.
Nigel Tooby FRPS started the meeting by discussing the history and semantics of contemporary photography. The group had started in 1992 ; the approach was to capture “about” rather than “of” and in general bodies of work, often accompanied by text were employed rather than single images.
Nigel showed his photobook of family and close associates. Images included a child on a potty at a society wedding. Old photographs were printed on architectural tracing paper. A group photograph at the wedding had the groom’s image cut out reflecting subsequent divorce. His comments brought to mind Alfred Stieglitz who said that the photograph was the equivalent of what he saw and what he felt.
Patricia Ruddle ARPS ( far right of photograph), who organised the meeting, spoke about the “Box round“ whereby members contributed photographs to the box, which was sent between members who were invited to write comments and add a new photograph. She also announced that Christine Pinnington, editor of the RPS Contemporary Group magazine was looking for volunteers for a joint photobook.
Regina Wilkinson showed her photobook of her aunt Masha’s country home in Belarus. Regina explained that she had been born in the (communist) USSR and had moved to England in 1999. The images portrayed happiness, loneliness and dependence via a bucolic idyll in a semi abandoned village ( Mir) contrasting with an oppressive lonely city life in Minsk under an apparently overbearing Soviet state regime. The theme is reminiscent of three photographers, two Lithuanian and one Ukrainian respectively. Firstly, Indrė Šerpytytė-Robert’s dark work on Lithuania under the Soviet regime recently exhibited at the Tate Modern and Museum of Modern Art, New York. Secondly Rimaldas Viksraitis, whose work has recurring stark monochrome motifs of chickens, vodka, breasts, dirt, animal carcasses and inebriated, often semi-naked, pensioners. His work was described by Martin Parr as “slightly insane and wonderfully surreal”; Parr nominated Viksraitis for the Discovery award at the Arles Photography festival, which Viksraitis went on to win. Finally, Boris Mikhailov’s work spanning 40 years, with motifs of modesty and morality, often with hand coloured black and white photographs. Mikhailov’s work was previously exhibited at New York's Museum of Modern Art and now at the Saatchi Gallery, London shows a bleak post-Soviet netherworld of alcoholism and madness but are altogether harsher and more detached. Interestingly in his collection Case History , Mikhailov unashamedly defends paying his subjects and working with them to stage poses inspired by religious and historical paintings. He says : " Documentary cannot be truth. Documentary pictures are one-sided, only one part of the conversation " . In this collection of 400 photographs, published as a book in 1999, Mikhailov has explored the position of the individual within the mechanisms of public ideology, touching on such subjects as Ukraine under Soviet rule, the living conditions in post-communist Eastern Europe, and the fallen ideals of the Soviet Union. Although deeply rooted in a historical context, his work incorporates profoundly engaging and personal narratives of humor, lust, vulnerability, aging, and death. Importantly, when interviewed about what triggered him into starting Case History, Mikhailov said : " What is truth or not truth? My feelings about this series have changed over time, so this is how I understand it now. I am from the Ukraine, but had been living in Berlin for a year on a stipend. After being away, I came back to my home town of Kharkov and it was very different from when I left. What was different? There were lots of color advertisements and other signs of the new capitalism, but when you looked more closely you could see a new society of people—the homeless ". Mikhailov then went on to say " With Case History, I wanted to find a metaphoric image of life. "
Graham Evans showed photographs on computer screens of memorials to those killed in the Great war. This included Remembrance day wreaths laid at the memorial in York, tombstones with Chinese characters commemorating indentured labourers in France. He contrasted the unclipped grass of the German cemeteries with the manicured lawns of the American cemetery outside Cambridge. His image of the memorial to a young boy shot at dawn reminded participants that there was an exhibition called “ Shot at Dawn “by Chloe Matthews
Martin Drury then displayed his examination of shadows which he showed on a loose leaf photobook looking like an artist’s sketchbook
Martin separated his work into four themes:
- The dark part of a picture
- Silhouette
- Intercepted light
- A dark projection onto a surface
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A dark projection onto a surface The dark part of a picture
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Intercepted light (upper panel) Silhouette ( lower panel)
On seeing the first category ( The dark part of the picture ), Nigel Tooby alluded to the cover of Led Zepplin’s 1976 album ‘ Presence ‘. The image, created by Hipgnosis shows various images of a family interacting with a black obelisk shaped object. The explanation for these images by the designer was 'When I think of the group, I always think of power and force. There's a definite presence there.'
Martin’s image of the silhouette echoed Ansel Adams’ notable photograph of a tree silhouetted at sunrise. Adams used the term extract rather than abstract for the technique. Such work brought to mind the Tibetan word Miksang – meaning hidden eye. The concept is to uncover the hidden meaning i.e to perceive directly without the burden of habitual likes and dislikes which cloud clear perception and thereby uncover what is already there. An American exponent of this photographic form was the late John Daido Loori, author of ‘Making love with light ‘ (2000) and "' The Zen of Creativity : cultivating your artistic life (2007) ' who became a Zen master. Traditional Japanese artists e.g. Josetsu and Hasegawa Tohaku inspired Monet, who collected that genre of work. Minimalist Photography as espoused by Michael Kenna and John Daido Loorie looks to remove superfluity and distraction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch…
As Junichiro Tanizaki said “Find beauty not only in the thing itself but also in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark, which that thing provides”……………..
When Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara practised the deep Prajnaparamita, he saw that the five skandhas were empty; thus he overcame all ills and suffering.
"O Sariputra! Form does not differ from the void, and the void does not differ from the form. Form is the void, and the void is form. The same is true for feelings, conceptions, impulses and consciousness.
O Sariputra, the characteristics of the void is not created, not annihilated, not impure, not pure, not increasing, not decreasing.
Thus, in the void there are no forms and no feelings, conceptions, impulses and no consciousness: there is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind; there is no form, sound, smell, taste, touch or idea; no eye elements, until we come to no elements of consciousness; no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance, until we come to no old age and death; and no ending of old age and death.
Furthermore, there is no truth of suffering, of the cause of suffering, of the cessation of suffering or of the path. There is no wisdom, and there is no attainment whatsoever. Because there is nothing to be attained, a Bodhisattva relying on Prajnaparamita has no obstruction in his heart. Because there is no obstruction he has no fear, and he passes far beyond all confused imagination and reaches Ultimate Nirvana. Artists may wish to reflect on this.
All Buddhas in the past, present and future have attained Supreme Enlightenment by relying on the Prajnaparamita, the supreme magic Mantra, the great Mantra of illumination, which can truly wipe out all suffering without fail."
"Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasemgate Bodhi-svaha!"
The RPS meeting concluded with Patricia showing back issues of the RPS Contemporary Group journal “ Contemporary Photography “, which she edits.
An amended version of this article will appear in the 2016 RPS e-newsletter " Concept" © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2016
The ideal man and woman - lessons from the Ramayana at Diwali
Understanding Valmiki’s Ramayana and the Global Festival of Diwali
" Diwali lights " © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2015
Understanding Maharishi Valmiki, arguably one of the greatest poets of any continent or time and his epiphany leads to insight of his magnum opus, the Ramayana (5th century BC), it’s older Vedic origins, which is celebrated by Hindus and later by Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and Muslims worldwide. Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902) pronounced that Hinduism and it’s message of the Ramayana is universal to all peoples; the message relates to conflict and is topical this week, which precedes Remembrance day.
Valmiki’s early life was that of an ignorant brute; however whilst stealing from the sage Narada, he realised that he alone was responsible for his own sin. Valmiki’s question “Who was the ideal man? ” was answered by Narada in the form of the Samkshepa Ramayana, an exhortation to call to god (in the form of Lord Rama ). So prolonged was Valmiki’s subsequent meditation and penance that an anthill grew around and over him, hence his reborn Sanskrit name ‘Valmiki’, meaning “one who sits in an anthill”.
Valmiki went to the Ganges and envisioned a pure and pious mind within those clear waters. Two birds were coupled in rapture beside it; the male bird was killed by a hunter’s arrow and the female died of sorrow. On seeing this, Valmiki uttered the first ever shloka (verse) in Sanskrit literature :
मां निषाद प्रतिष्ठां त्वमगमः शाश्वतीः समाः। यत्क्रौंचमिथुनादेकम् अवधीः काममोहितम्॥'
mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvamagamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
yat krauñcamithunādekam avadhīḥ kāmamohitam
You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity
For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting
Valmiki then composed the epic Ramayana of 50 000 lines, using the same 32 syllable Anustubh meter as that above. The Rama ayana (रामायणम्) means the journey or advancement of Lord Rama (and his beloved consort Sita) through the length of India from Nepal to Sri Lanka, and the individual journey of man to god ; it is detailed in seven kandas (books) :
Bala ( Book of Youth – Rama breaking Shiva’s bow in Nepal to marry Sita) ,
Ayodhya (Book of Ayodhya – banishment of Rama from his kingdom) ,
Aranya (Book of Forest; the demon disguised as a golden deer, abduction of Sita ) ,
Kishkindha (The Empire of Holy Monkeys – meeting of Rama with the loyal Hanuman, defeat of evil Vali)
Sundara ( Book of Beauty – Hanuman’s location of Sita, his destruction of Lanka, the hedonistic island kingdom of demon Ravana) ,
Yuddha ( Book of War – Rama’s battle with demon Ravana; good overcoming evil, and the triumphant return to ayodhya and coronation of Sri Rama, welcomed by light, the symbol of love and enlightenment)
Uttara (last Book – Bowing to demands from his subjects, Rama subjects Sita to the Agni Pariksha (test of fire). Despite overcoming this, rumours of impurity in the company of Ravana lead to Sita's banishment, during which she gives birth to and raises the twin sons Lob and Kush. Rama and Sita reconcile, the twins later ascend the throne of Ayodhya, Sita returns to the earth and Rama departs from the world, the purpose of his earthly incarnation being complete)
As Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902) wrote, Valmiki answered his own question: Lord Rama, the embodiment of truth, of morality, is the ideal son, the ideal husband, and above all, the ideal leader; Sita represents model womanhood of fidelity, loyalty, sacrifice and the nurturing mother.
The non dualist philosophy of Advaita proposed by Sri Adi Shankaracharya (788 – 820) and developed by Buddhism, proposes innate divinity within us all, with which we must strive to identify and connect. This taken together with the Swami Vivekananda’s premise above inexorably leads to the deduction that should we choose, we will find the perfect man and woman within; let us reflect on this reader, lest we be found wanting.
Valmiki’s Ramayana presents the ancient Hindu Vedas in narrative allegory, interspersing internal philosophical dipoles (good, evil, virtue, materialism, love, lust, loyalty, deceit, sacrifice, hedonism) and devotional elements. Swami Vivekananda was an expert Sanskrit scholar and interpreted the Vedas and Ramayana and their allegorical elements to understand the subtext of the Ramayana and explain the passages which continue to vex current readers who merely adopt a literal meaning of the Ramayana e.g. Why in the Uttara Kanda did Lord Rama subject his beloved Sita to the test of fire?
Allegorical elements of the Ramayana
Sri Rama represents the Paramatman (परमात्मन्, Supreme soul). Sita, coming from the earth, represents the Jeevatman (जीव – the individual essence of an organism which survives physical death). Every human being's body is Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana. The Jivatman always endeavours affinity with Paramatman (as Sita wants to meet Rama), but the demons (Rakshasas) in Lanka would not allow it. The Rakshasas in the Ramayana represents certain characteristics. For example Ravana has ten demonic heads – the das mukha - representing passion (Rajas gunam), pride, anger, greed, infatuation, lust, hatred, jealousy, selfishness and crookedness (the Kumbhakarna which represent the Tamas guna). Ravana is also an enigma, he was the grandson of a sage who was a prajapati (mind-born son) of Lord Brahma, an expert vedic scholar and erstwhile devotee of both Brahma and Shiva; however his devotion and penance was for personal gain. These qualities in so called Lanka (the hedonistic human body) prevents Jeevatman from reaching Paramatman i.e Sita from reaching rama. Sita was united to her Lord with the help of Hanuman. Hanuman represents the loyal Guru, who shows her Rama's ring which is Brahma-Jnana or supreme wisdom, which destroys the cosmic illusion of our surroundings (maya).
How is the war of the Yuddha Kanda reconciled with Ahimsa ?
The just and proportionate war – lessons from the Baghavad Gita
" Swordfight " © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2015
The Yuddha Kanda, the penultimate book of the Ramayana describes the war between Rama and the demon Ravan. How may this be reconciled with the dharmic cardinal value of ahimsa first described in the Vedas, espoused by Hindus, and later developed and followed by both Buddhists and Jains ?
Ahimsa is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs – to strike; hiṃsā is thus injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this, i.e. cause no injury, do no harm – non violence, non-harm in deeds, words and thoughts. It is inspired by Advaita non dualist philosophy that all living beings have the divine spark; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself and hurt the divine. Latterly, Ahimsa has also been related to the notion that violence has karmic consequences.
For example the Yajur Veda ( circa 1000 BC ) states:
" May all beings look at me with a friendly eye, may I do likewise, and may we look at each other with the eyes of a friend "
Why then should the Ramayana extol war? Firstly, again using the allegorical lens, the war represents our internal daily battle between good and evil. Secondly, Valmiki was well aware of the Bhagavad Gita and it’s third millennium BC origins and would well understand the interpretation of it’s own allegorical messages. In the famous, chapter 4, shloka (verse) 42, of the Gita, Krishna exhorts the battle weary warrior Arjuna to battle in the Kurukshetra war, notwithstanding Arjuna’s sorrow at the previous loss of life:
“ tasmåd ajñåna sambhütam hritstham jñånåsinåtmana˙
chittvainam samçayam yogam åtisshottistha bhårata “
“ Therefore, O Bharata, with the sword of knowledge slash these doubts of yours that have arisen out of ignorance within your heart. Taking shelter of the process of yoga, stand and fight! “
Shri Krishna thus reiterates the location of our accumulated ignorance. He uses the word "hritstham" which literally means heart, but actually refers to the four-fold antaha-karana comprising the mind, intellect, memory and ego.
This single shloka also provides a concise summary of the Gita’s fourth chapter. Ignorance in the form of individuality, selfishness and finitude, is our natural condition. This ignorance causes us to question our relationship with the world, just like Arjuna was confused in regards to his duty as a warrior to fight the just war. Having gained knowledge, in the form of universality, selflessness and infinitude, we learn how to transact with the world. All self doubt is destroyed. We act in a spirit of yajnya, where we see the same eternal essence in the actor, the action and the result. Ultimately, as stated in the shloka, we arise physically and spiritually, into a new level of consciousness from the outward delusion of our current existence, our Maya.
Thus the sanatan dharma of Hindus require that war must be avoided, with sincere and truthful dialogue. Force is the last resort, but should war becomes inevitable, its cause must be just, its purpose virtuous, its objective restraint of the wicked , its aim peace, its method lawful. War may only be commenced and stopped legitimately. Weapons must be proportionate to the opponent, not indiscriminate tools of destruction. All strategies and weapons used in the war must be to defeat the opponent, not designed to cause misery.
That Valmiki understood this, is evidenced by the first duel between Rama and Ravan described in the Yuddha kanda of the Ramayana; despite Rama destroying the weapons and armour of Ravan, rather than easily killing him whilst defenceless, he asked Ravan to retire for the day and return re-armed.
Interpretation of Sita’s Agni Pariksha, the test of fire
This passage, in the Uttara Kanda, the final book of the Ramayana has vexed many readers who have made a literal interpretation. How can Lord Rama, bow to the call of his subjects, question his beloved wife’s fidelity and subject her to the test of fire (Agni Pariksha) ?
Again as in the rest of the Ramayana, deeper understanding of the allegorical messages resolves the paradox. Agni, son of Brahma has two heads, one of immortality and one a symbol of life. Agni features in 218 of the 1028 hyms of the Rigveda (ऋग्वेद ; Praise of Knowledge; 1700 BC ) and is the first word of the first hymn:
अग्नि॒म् ई॑ळे पुरो॒हि॑तं यज्ञ॒स्य॑ देव॒म् ऋत्वि॒ज॑म् । होता॑रं रत्नधा॒त॑मम् ॥
agním īḷe puróhitaṃ / yajñásya devám ṛtvíjam / hótāraṃ ratnadhâtamam
Agni I laud, the high priest, god, minister of sacrifice, The invoker, lavishest of wealth.
He is the supreme director of religious ceremonies and duties, and figures as messenger who intercedes between mortals and gods (Rigveda 1.26.3).
Thus Agni is invoked by Lord Rama, the Paramatman to communicate with jivatman (Sita). Thus the Uttara Kanda, the final chapter of the journey, “ pilgrimage “ or advancement of Rama, is the communication of our innate divinity with our earthly body.
Valmiki also alludes to the silent power of suffering and sacrifice. Describing the moment when Sita enters the pyre and extinguishes the flames with her fidelity and chastity:
“ As if she were going home
to her place on the lotus
that rises up from the flooding waters,
she jumped in;
and as she entered, that fire was scorched
by her burning faithfulness “
Other epithets for Agni is Abhimani (from Sanskrit अभिमन्: ‘abhi’ towards and ‘man’ to reflect upon).
Thus, examination of the Ramayana through an allegorical lens, resolves the vexing conundrum of how the ideal man, devoted husband tests his beloved wife with fire. At the conclusion, Sita returns to the earth and Rama achieves his divinity – a clear allegory of body and soul at death.
Depiction of the Ramayana in different faiths and countries
There are other versions of the Ramayana, notably the Ramavataram in Tamil and Buddhist (Dasaratha Jataka No. 461, where the story of Rama is depicted as the previous life of the Buddha). In the Jain adaptations Rama becomes a Jain monk and ultimately attains moksha (freedom). In the muslim version, the demon Ravana receives boons from Allah rather than Brahma). There are also Nepalese, Cambodian (Reamker – the most significant piece in Khmer literature) , Indonesian, Philippine, Thai (Ramakien), Lao (Phra Lak Phra Lam ), Burmese and Malay versions of the saga. There are two Sikh versions of the Ramayana, written some 2000 years after the original; one version is a story where Rama has no divinity. The other version, also in the Guru Granth sahib attributes spiritual allegory to the characters where Ravan is Ego, Sita is Intellect, Ram is Inner Soul and Lakhshman is Attention.
The Ramayana has inspired art, including the Hindu temple art at Angkor Wat complex and spawned a genre of global storytelling from Indonesian muslim shadow puppetry to the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean as a source of moral and spiritual guidance. The story is interpreted in India via Bharatnatyam, the temple dance. In South East Asia different forms of dance including Javanese, Balinese, Thai and in Cambodia, Khmer Lakhorn Luang has become the foundation of the royal ballet.
Celebration of Diwali – Lights and lotus rangoli
The name Diwali means row of lighted lamps and recalls the lamps (Deepas) lit to welcome back the triumphant Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman back to Ayodhya. It is celebrated as a five day festival. The celebration differs in different states. In northern India, Diwali celebrates the return of Rama and in Bengal goddess Kali, the destroyer of Evil is worshipped.
" Diwali Aarti " © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2015
Sikhs celebrate Diwali as the festival coincided with the day of release and return of Guru Hargobind Rai and 52 Hindu kings to the Golden temple at Amritsar, following false imprisonment in the Gwalior Fort by the Mogul (muslim) Emperor, Jahangir.
In Gujarat, deepas are lit to guide Lakhshmi, goddess of wealth, into homes which have been decorated with rangoli patterns, often depicting a lotus flower via open doors and windows. The lotus has special significance within the Ramayana for many Hindus and other dharmic faiths such as Buddhism.
"Lotus of the Heart " © ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2015
In the Bala Kanda, ( first book , of youth), Rama’s father says:
“ Highly fortunate am I to see your face, lovely like the lotus in full bloom ”
Similarly in the Yuddha Kanda, the penultimate book, of war, Rama says:
" When shall I behold Sita with charming hips, having long lotus-like eyes flourishing as prosperity, by conquering the enemies? "
The lotus shaped rangoli decorations in houses is also a reference to the obeisance of Rama before his epic battle with the demon Ravan; he required 108 blue lotus flowers (neel padmayan) to perform his religious duty, but had only 107. He therefore offered to pluck his own eye to complete his devotion.
We might reflect on this selfless devotion in these economically straightened and war torn times. Irrespective of our personal faith, Diwali serves as a focus for universal friendship and the shared belief in the triumph of virtue over evil.
Jai Sri Rama
© ॐ www.aumphotos.com 2015
Istanbul photographer - Nikon F2 on a train
A great pleasure to be in Istanbul again - a world metroplolis bridging the Bosphorous and bridging two continents and their people. In a cafe, I met a photographer in his 80s, Suleyman Ozcan. You may say, so what ? His father was a devout muslim and pilgrim to the Hajj. As such, taking photographs, in the 1940s was forbidden. The life choice that Suleyman took in taking a job as photographer to the Istanbul Elektrik Tünel Tramvay was therefore an act of disobedience. He went on to capture countless images with his Nikon F2.
