DESKTOP 3180 - ZEN

A corner of our garden where a meditating Buddha encourages us to be calm and relaxed, taking city life in our stride. Zen (also Zen Buddhism) noun [mass noun] is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasising the value of meditation and intuition rather than ritual worship or study of scriptures.

 

Zen Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China in the 12th century, and has had a profound cultural influence. The aim of Zen is to achieve sudden enlightenment (satori) through meditation in a seated posture (zazen), usually under the guidance of a teacher and often using paradoxical statements (koans) to transcend rational thought.

 

ORIGIN Japanese, literally ‘meditation’, from Chinese chán ‘quietude’, from Sanskrit dhyāna ‘meditation’.

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DESKTOP 3146 - MUSIC

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DESKTOP 3140 - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, USA

Yellowstone National Park is a national park located in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world.

The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular features. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion. Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years. Aside from visits by mountain men during the early-to-mid-19th century, organised exploration did not begin until the late 1860s.

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DESKTOP 3111 - SERENITY

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DESKTOP 3065 - YULETIDE

Yes, the decorations are up and it's only a few more sleeps till Christmas. This year we are not giving presents to family and friends, we are giving presents to complete strangers. Several community groups are organising gift drives for families with small children who cannot afford presents. Share the smiles, have a great Christmas!

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DESKTOP 3064 - CHRISTMAS IN MELBOURNE

And with it the Omicron COVID variant, which is causing a great upset to many people's Festive Season plans. Many countries have nosedived back into lockdowns, others have introduced new restrictions and a great many more have reintroduced travels bans. Still, Christmas will be celebrated and people will survive and become stronger. Just take care and do your utmost to protect yourself and others around you!

Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays!

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DESKTOP 2999 - GLASS PAPERWEIGHT

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DESKTOP 2901 - POND

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DESKTOP 2692 - CHRISTMAS IS NEAR

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DESKTOP 2651 - THE CUP!

ABC Bullion is the official manufacturer of the Melbourne Cup. Since ABC Bullion commenced production, the Melbourne Cup has been produced using gold that has been mined, refined, and crafted wholly in Australia for the first time in its 150-year history. Valued at over $200,000, the trophy contains 44 pieces that are hand spun over a 250-hour production process.

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DESKTOP 2623 - YELLOW

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DESKTOP 2440 - DE-KLIMT!

Taking photos of an oil colour copy of the painting "The Kiss" by Klimt, I digitally reconstructed the photographic images to come up with this mosaic. I recently read an excellent book on this artist and I am appreciating his works more and more now.

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DESKTOP 2341 - CHRISTMAS SELFIE

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DESKTOP 2327 - TIME

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DESKTOP 2292 - GALLERY

A selection of photos of my art.

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DESKTOP 2211 - GOLD

Gold | ɡəʊld | noun [mass noun]
1 A yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, used in jewellery and decoration and to guarantee the value of currencies. (Symbol: Au) [as modifier]: Gold earrings.
• [with modifier] An alloy of gold: 9-carat gold.
 

Gold is quite widely distributed in nature but economical extraction is only possible from deposits of the native metal or sulphide ores, or as a by-product of copper and lead mining. The use of the metal in coins is now limited, but it is also used in electrical contacts and (in some countries) as a filling for teeth.
 

2 A deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown colour: The artist decorated the painting with liberal splashes of gold.

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DESKTOP 2210 - LHASA, TIBET

Lhasa is a city and administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The main urban area of Lhasa is roughly equivalent to the administrative borders of Chengguan District, which is part of the wider Lhasa prefecture-level city, an area formerly administered as a prefecture. Lhasa is the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,490 metres, Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka Palaces.

The Potala Palace (shown here) was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It is now a museum and World Heritage Site. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. It may overlay the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsän Gampo in 637.

The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m thick, and 5 m thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings (containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues) soar 117 metres on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m in total above the valley floor. Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the “Three Protectors of Tibet”: Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain of Vajrapani; Pongwari that of Manjusri; and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Avalokiteśvara.

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DESKTOP 2187 - REEDS

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DESKTOP 2182 - GOLDEN TEMPLE, INDIA

Sri Harmandir Sahib (The abode of God), also Sri Darbar Sahib and informally referred to as the “Golden Temple”, is the holiest Gurdwara (place of worship) of Sikhism, located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. Amritsar (literally, the tank of nectar of immortality) was founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das. The fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan, designed the Harmandir Sahib to be built in the centre of this holy tank, and upon its construction, installed the Adi Granth, the holy scripture of Sikhism, inside the Harmandir Sahib.

The Harmandir Sahib complex is also home to the Akal Takht (the throne of the timeless one, constituted by the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind). While the Harmandir Sahib is regarded as the abode of God's spiritual attribute, the Akal Takht is the seat of God's temporal authority. The construction of Harmandir Sahib was intended to build a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come and worship God equally. Accordingly, as a gesture of this non-sectarian universalness of Sikhism, Guru Arjan had specially invited Muslim Sufi saint, Hazrat Mian Mir to lay the foundation stone of the Harmandir Sahib. The four entrances (representing the four directions) to get into the Harmandir Sahib also symbolise the openness of the Sikhs towards all people and religions.

Over 100,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship, and also partake jointly in the free community kitchen and meal (Langar) regardless of any distinctions, a tradition that is a hallmark of all Sikh Gurdwaras. The present-day gurdwara was renovated in 1764 by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia with the help of other Sikh Misls. In the early nineteenth century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh secured the Punjab region from outside attack and covered the upper floors of the gurdwara with gold, which gives it its distinctive appearance and its English name.

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DESKTOP 2064 - LOVE'S LOCKS

We’ve all seen bridges around the world bedecked in shiny (or not so shiny) locks with engraved initials or messages to lovers, best friends or family. This is from the Yarra River Footbridge in Melbourne, which links the City with Southbank.

Yet whilst love lock bridges look picturesque and romantic, they’re not as good an idea as they seem. One of the most famous love lock bridges, the Pont des Arts in Paris, took a stand against the thousands of padlocks along the bridge back in 2015 by removing every single one and any that came after. Why? Because the massive number of locks on the bridge is actually dangerous. Adding all those metal locks to a bridge that was built to hold and carry a certain weight creates structural damage and even the risk of the bridge collapsing into the river.

Hundreds of kilos of locks added every month may cause damage to the bridge railing or even parts of the bridge to collapse. Send flowers instead.

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