The Avant Guard

The tunnel under the train tracks in Alexandria, VA always looks damp and forbidding.  I’ve walked past it many times and it always seems to draw my attention.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Heritage

Here’s my submission for the weekly photo challenge subject Heritage.

I’ve been practicing Buddhist teachings and meditation for the last 10 years or so.  Striving for non-attachment, self awareness and compassion for all sentient beings has changed my life in ways that are difficult to explain.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting

Sitting at a table in a restaurant I noticed the lighting gave my sunglasses a mirror effect and decided to take this photo with my iPhone.  It seemed like the perfect choice for this week’s photo challenge theme, <a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/reflecting/”>Reflecting</a&gt;.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Danger!

Here’s my submission for this week’s photo challenge: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/danger/.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust

On a recent trip to New York City I visited the Rockefeller Center Observation Deck.  From there you can see most of Manhattan.  It’s a pretty incredible view.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/wanderlust/

Standing Guard at Pu`uhanua O Honaunau

A wooden figure stands, watching the bay at Pu`uhanua O Honaunau National Historic Park, Kona, Hawaii.

Kona Shore Silhouette

Watching the sun go down in Kona, Hawaii.

Kona Coast, Sunset, I

A woman explores the jagged coast of Kona, Hawaii as waves fill tidal pools and the sun begins to set.

Making The Mandala

I normally post a single photograph at a time but today we visited the Virginia Holocaust Museum where a group of Tibetan monks was working on a mandala.  It was an inspiration to witness the patience, concentration and precision of the monks at work.  To give you a better feel for the whole scene I decided to post a series of photos.

The Tibetan Buddhist art of mandala is a practice in which the participants create an elaborate, beautiful mosaic of colored sand.   They work on the mandala for many days, adding little bits of colored sand to fill in each section.  The sand is added slowly and precisely to create crisp, clear lines.  When the mandala is finished the monks sweep up the sand and discard it in a river.  The process is both meditative and a practice in impermanence.

This monk was working alone when we arrived.  His concentration was remarkable.

Despite the crowd of people watching, the monks remained focused on the task at hand.

One of the monks gets more blue sand to add to the mandala.

Up to three monks worked on the mandala at a time.

Here you can see some of the vibrant colored sand used to create the mandala.

I’ll leave you with a classic Buddhist wish, part of the metta bhavana, or “loving kindness”, practice…

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be free from suffering.

Morning At The Huguenot Bridge

Canada Geese preen and sun themselves on rocks below the Huguenot Bridge early one August morning.