What do you do when your mind is slowly beating you up with emotions that feel like they may slowly kill you inside. You have no one to run to for help so you're stuck on your own with your thoughts gradually building up until you can't take it anymore. Yeah drugs help temporarily but once they wear off, you're back to where you were, stuck on the same feeling. They say writing or finding some kind of artistic outlet is supposed to help, but how much and for how long. What's worse is, you know you need help, or just someone to listen... but it just falls short and you feel like you've hit a brick wall. Inside you're screaming with all your might "help me", but in the end no one can hear you.
Sometimes you can’t let go of what’s making you sad, because it was the only thing that made you happy. But what happens if no matter how hard you fall for someone, they’re just not there to catch you anymore.
- It's not giving up if you're gaining yourself back
It's knowing when to let go of what insults your soul and remembering who you really are. Flourish and remember all the things you thought you could never achieve but have, you are beautiful and capable of anything you put your mind to. Never forget that.
When you feel emotions 10 times more than a normal person and everything you do or say is fuelled from the heart rather than the brain. The feeling of happiness rules over all but the tiniest thing can instantly change that to the feeling of emptiness. What is the pursuit of happiness anyway and why do we have to pursue it? Why does it have to be so difficult to achieve. Sadness / depression always creeping in taking over all the senses - no more drugs, an off switch would be easier. At the end of the day, if you can smile through it and pretend everything is okay, then maybe you can trick yourself into believing it. Maybe.
Ask for the truth and it shall be revealed to you. It cannot be denied. But ask for it sincerely, ask for it with a prayerful heart; most of all, ask for it with a heart cleared of all the mess that we have put into it. No preconceived notions, no prejudices, and say, "My Lord, my heart is now clean, please reveal." Let us try it.
Constant brooding over our own afflictions increases our worries. Our attachment to them develops and we become rigidly entangled in their intricacies. This hampers our onward progress, and the chance of success becomes slight.
Taken from the book "Complete Works of Ram Chandra by Babuji Maharaj
When Time and Space were young, things were not as we know them today. Divinity sang the Song of Creation, and, being All Present, All Knowing, and All Powerful, the Word was made manifest. Life sprang into existence, vibratory divergence expressing the essence of Evolution in the expression of All That Is.
The World was born then and Sun and Moon shone down upon the new Creation in perfect syncopation, day and night, night and day, each complimenting the other perfectly. They exchanged polite words and poignant glances in the space between dawn and morning, evening and night, their simple pleasantries the beginning of a Love that would last throughout all Time.
As the cycle of Creation progressed, it dawned upon Sun that he would very much like to walk upon sister Earth’s surface with his friend, Moon. To feel the touch of the grass upon his skin, the soft caress of the wind upon his face, to look into Moon’s eyes and share with her the sheer perfection of Divinity’s creation.
But, not having any feet to walk Earth upon, Sun cast about the galaxy for a solution. He first asked brother Sky, to no avail. Then, he sought the advice of Brown Dwarfs and Neutron Stars, danced with Binary stars in the farthest fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy while ducking the emanations of Quasars and resisting the remorseless drum call of clustering Black Holes congregating in the Galaxy’s core before giving up, returning to his central station in Sky’s coronal vista, deep in thought.
Finding no answer to his question, he despaired and, in the cool of a summer’s eve, told Moon of his desire to walk with her. Finding her willing, effervescent joy manifest, her reflection of his Light softening in dimpled serenity, her simpatico soul resonating to his. But still, the problem of their meeting remained. Moon cast an azure burst of Light forth, showering Earth with particles of liquid Love; translucent, softly sighing droplets of pure ecstasy. Inspiration sang a song of remembrance and she smiled, sharing her muse with Sun.
Life’s bounteous glory
Creation Divine
The Love of life’s beauty
Experience defined,
There is none born of Earth
More wise nor involved,
Serpent’s vast wisdom
Our problem might solve.
When Moon rose that evening, darkness greeted her. Startled, she gazed down upon Earth’s silent expanse, peering intently, baffled by Sun’s absence. Being reflective of her Love, Sun, her own natural luminosity was pale and weak by comparison, and she felt a deep loneliness lurking in the darkness as the natural order of things was disrupted. Then, she heard a familiar voice and saw a sharp spark of energy on the surface, beckoning to her. To her great surprise, it was Sun, standing upon Earth in bipedal form, tall and strong, with two legs and two arms, calling for her to join him.
Struck by wonder, she did as she was asked. Centering herself in Love, she concentrating her energy, drawing upon the latent Light-energy of Sun to augment her own. Focusing, concentrating, she descended, falling to Earth, feeling the layers of energy and planetary detritus peeling from her like the skin of an onion, floating gently out, into the Solar System to find equilibrium between Mars and Jupiter as an orbiting belt of rock and ice. Exposed, the core of her Self was revealed as twin to Sun’s, but smaller, softer and, legs and arms akimbo she landed gently by his side, eyes wide.
Eons of Light lived while
In search of the night
Overhead souls do fly unaware,
Of the beauty of life
And the bounteous sight
Of the wonders of Sky
And Earth’s wares.
Of green growth and brown skin
Of blue waters and white skies
Bodies tossed by the urges within,
Perfect Love on the rise
Passion’s promise realized
Eternity’s garden we’re sworn then
To tend.
Gigantic trees surrounded them, sighing softly, shaking their branches in concerned anticipation. Their feet were comforted by verdant swathes of grass and lichen. Moss-covered rocks watched them silently as streams chuckled past, sharing their secrets with the rivers who sped quickly to the oceans and seas, explaining the new order of things to all they passed along the way.
Moon, overcome by joy at being close to her Love, could not help but embrace him and they gasped simultaneously, the sheer force of their Love sending forth an expansive burst of Light-energy.
Serpent, who had crept near during their awestruck contemplation opened his mouth wide, the darkness of his nature seeking completion. His plan had worked perfectly. He ate the Light, brilliant sparks of energy flowing directly from the conjoined Sun and Moon into his gaping maw and he began to grow, and grow, and grow.
Oblivious to Serpent’s diabolical siphoning, Sun and Moon immersed themselves in Love, the glade of their meeting a perfect Womb for their Union, their bodies intertwined as One. Their lips met and their bodies yearned one for the other and, in Completion, birthed an ecstatic force that split atoms and joined opposites, creating anew that which Divinity had blessed.
Earth trembled beneath Serpent’s weight as he continued to grow, his girth soon encompassing the planet. Life cried out to brother Sky in desperation and upon the crux of completion, Sun, through the nimbus-like haze of ecstatic union, realized that he had been tricked by Serpent. His joy became rage and he burst, incandescent, from the shell of skin in which he had been encapsulated, thoughtlessly flinging Moon away, her new-born body burnt by his fiery passion, she, screaming in agony and despair.
Serpent hissed and reared back, his mighty tongue coiling around Sun’s form, attempting to swallow him whole before he could regain his might. But Sun, his rage transcendent, shone brighter and brighter, rose higher and higher into the sky, carrying Serpent along with him, his tail uncoiling, releasing Earth from his death grip.
Creation’s fell power
A station’s rising tower
Upon this rock an edifice I’ve built,
My visage shining bright
Banishing all vestiges of night
The blood of serpents by vengeance
Is spilt!
Sun’s song burst forth and the Light-energy Serpent had swallowed shone through his pores, returning to their source. Serpent’s body dwindled, shrinking drastically until he was but a shadow of his former self. Sun, full and mighty, rose to his throne, releasing Serpent to fall back to Earth’s surface where he slunk, dishonored and burnt, into the darkness of the planet’s interior.
Realizing the gravity of his mistake, Sun swore upon Divinity never to give in to his passions again. He shouted his oath out to sister Earth, brother Sky and the planets and stars beyond, promising his eternal fealty and diligence to his station. Satisfied, he settled back into his path, only then realizing that, in his anger, he may have lost his Love.
Belatedly, he sought out Moon, upon Earth and in Sky’s broad expanse, but he could not find her. Wounded by his anger and disregard – and also resolved by his solemn oath – she had retreated to Earth’s opposite side, and sworn her own solemn oath, never to meet with him again. An oath of comfort and soothing peace, in opposition to Sun’s raging brilliance. To hold in her arms the night, while converting the mystical Light of her reflection as a rueful, but necessary, reminder of Sun’s eternal preeminence. Her soft voice echoed unto eternity, silent tears washing Earth’s black soil as the oceans and seas sang in syncopation.
Day and night
Night and day,
Opposition in play,
Without the other
One is not complete.
White and black
Black and white,
No union in sight,
Eternal opposites
Never shall meet.
While upon Earth’s surface, the progeny of the Love of Sun and Moon walk, their essence split in twain, eternally yearning for the Union of Opposites. Black and white, male and female, day and night. Ever-distant yet complimentary, warring eternally, the manifestation of Love and Hate. And all the while, Serpent waits in the shadows for his next opportunity to swallow the Light.
Sit in an easy posture for an hour in the morning in quite a natural way. You should only meditate. You should not struggle with your ideas, which generally come during meditation. Concentration is the automatic and natural result of meditation. Those who insist on concentration in place of meditation, and force their mind to it, generally meet with failure.
Taken from the book "Complete Works of Ram Chandra"
My body yearns for the sea and the wide open spaces along the shore. To run free with out a care in the world. With the wind whispering sweet nothing’s in my ear, brushing through my hair and stroking my face. Then the sea, hypnotising me with waves as it dances back and forth along the shore - temping me with every inch it grows closer towards my bare feet as stare into its depths. I can never resist her charms. We were meant to be, me and the sea.
"The photographer Richard Renaldi is a matchmaker for tense times, asking complete strangers to pose with their bodies touching, as if they were intimates."
To view more pictures and information on this amazing project
click >> HERE << or >> HERE <<
Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure.
"As Ramadan begins, more than 100 hunger-strikers in Guantánamo Bay continue their protest. More than 40 of them are being force-fed. A leaked document sets out the military instructions, or standard operating procedure, for force-feeding detainees. In this four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, US actor and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure" — Guardian Newspaper
Warning: some viewers may find these images distressing.
Photography by Bruce Davidson circa 1980.
Taken from his book "Subway"
In Davidson’s own words, "I wanted to transform the subway from its dark, degrading, and impersonal reality into images that open up our experience again to the colour, sensuality, and vitality of the individual souls that ride it each day." Subway is considered one of the finest photography projects ever completed. He called this project "a voyage of discovery".
Finding Vivian Maier
I first heard about her on a Sunday afternoon in April of this year. I was walking through Old Spitalfields Market and came across a young couple selling vintage cameras in mint condition. The camera that interested me and my friend the most was a Yashica. It pretty much looked exactly the same as the one in the picture linked and was going for an amazing price. Got talking to the young couple who were film students, and they mentioned Vivian Maier to us. They told us about her story and the discovery of her film, that was later developed many years after her death. The story behind this woman absolutely fascinates me and to recently find out they will be showing her documentary on the TV... I just can't wait.
To view more of her work, please visit:-
http://www.vivianmaier.com/
