Contemplation by Bodhi Smith

Mar 15, 2019

"contemplation" a new impression from bodhi smith

"do you think about love? why? what is there to contemplate? there is nothing to understand, you know it already. all you need is to just live it, and be" ― bodhinku, contemplate
 
“contemplate and look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment” ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved
 
“all that we are is the result of what we have contemplated. the mind is everything. what we think, we become" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
“those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. there is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature” ― rachel carson, silent spring
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STORY  
this is my newest photographic impression, quite unique and as far as i know one of the first times this location has been photographed, literally stumbled across this while i was looking for another rock formation...this was taken last summer while i was visiting the lake powell area of southern utah...it is an image of a sandstone formation called a hoodoo in the southwestern united states. these rock formations are famous for resembling things we see in real life, such as a heart, or a hat, or a boot, or a skull, or an elephant, or sheep, or a snake, or a bear, or spectacles, or an eye, or buildings...or in this case, a buddha...
 
this is one of those spots i could just sit, and sit, and sit, along with buddha and contemplate under the stars...its higher elevation and remoteness lends to a comfort and serenity unmatched, literally a path to a higher consciousness...hope you enjoy this impression along with all the numerous quotes i have chosen to accompany my composition...
 
what you see here is the merge of two separate images to create this impression, one image taken for the stars at night (using no filters) and one image taken for the rock formations just after sunset...i used both gnd and nd filters for the rock formations part of this composition...nd filters to help oversaturate the colors and enhance the orange-red of the navajo sandstone, plus i used gnd filters to help balance the composition in-camera...and truly this impression would not be possible without the use of my trusty dolica tripod in combination with the progreyusa filters which i use...for this image i chose the new 10-stop 3.0nd progrey antarctica filter (if you have not tried this filter, you must put it on your list!) and the 1.2gnd and .9gnd (inverted position) progrey genesis filters to help balance down the brighter top and bottom of the image and create a natural vignette...
 
"true contemplation is peacefully emptying your mind of all thoughts...thinking too much. is just, thinking too much" ― bodhinku, don't think so much
 
"contemplation is protecting yourself from your own thoughts" ― bodhinku, contemplation
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MEANING
following below are a ton of quotes about thinking and contemplation, just some words by other writers to get you contemplating about your own thoughts and thinking, just as the theme of my impression today suggests by having a pensive buddha underneath the stars and the milky way...hope you find their deeper overall discourse as a nice addition, but do not think about them too much, just enjoy each in meaningful context...
 
"the less you know, the more you will understand. the less you want, the more you will have. the less you are, the more you will be" ― vivian amis, i am: the key to manifesting
 
“to feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. to have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be” ― george santayana, the science of beauty
 
“the stars are the apexes of what wonderful triangles! what distant and different beings in the various mansions of the universe are contemplating the same one at the same moment! nature and human life are as various as our several constellations. who shall say what prospect life offers to another? could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?” ― henry david thoreau, walden
 
“an introspective person seeks to attain a pure state of consciousness by merging finitude in infinity and by expressing the rapture of the soul through the contemplation and adoration of beauty. in this brief interlude of time, i surrender to becoming a nighttime dream weaver, a blip in the cosmos of bundled vitality that wants for nothing.” ― kilroy j. oldster, dead toad scrolls
 
“here’s harmony! here’s repose! here’s what may leave all painting and all music behind, and what poetry only can attempt to describe! here’s what may tranquillise every care, and lift the heart to rapture! when i look out on such a night as this, i feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world; and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of nature were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by contemplating such a scene.” ― jane austen, mansfield park
 
“most of my wandering in the desert i've done alone. not so much from choice as from necessity...i generally prefer to go into places where no one else wants to go. i find that in contemplating the natural world my pleasure is greater if there are not too many others contemplating it with me, at the same time.” ― edward abbey, desert solitaire
 
“i’ve come to realize the power of reflection, the kind that comes only from contemplation. synchronizing ourselves with the awe-inspiring environment around us is indeed a tremendous feat that, at some point or another, we must all undergo, alone yet together.” ― kayla severson, nature's first gem Is green
 
“i must stay alone and know that i am alone to contemplate and feel nature in full; i have to surrender myself to what encircles me, i have to merge with my clouds and rocks in order to be what i am. solitude is indispensable for my dialogue with nature” ― caspar david friedrich, german landscape painter
 
“...human thought has no limit. at its risk and peril, it analyzes and dissects its own fascination. we could almost say that, by a sort of splendid reaction, it fascinates nature; the mysterious world surrounding us returns what it receives; it is likely that contemplators are contemplated.” ― victor hugo, les miserables
 
“the contemplation of nature means appreciating the 'thisness' of particular things, persons, and moments. we are to see each stone, each leaf, each blade of grass, each frog, each human face, for what it truly is, in all the distinctness and intensity of its specific being...true mysticism, says olivier clement, is to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary” ― kallistos ware, the orthodox way
 
“there is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.” ― lin yutang, the importance of living
 

“the wise one leaves speculation to the idle, and contemplates nature.” ― r.a. schwaller de lubicz, esoterism and symbol

“we must seek out that which invigorates us, and engage it at all fronts. art, music, literature, conversation, travel, nature—whatever it is that keeps the fire of our spirit bright—we must build our life around it; for, without our passions, the years ahead become a burden rather than a gift.” ― l.m. browning, seasons of contemplation: a book of midnight meditations

 

“my greatest pleasure was the enjoyment of a serene sky amidst these desert vastlands: yet i loved all the changes of nature; and rain, and storm, and the beautiful clouds of heaven brought their delights with them. but my pleasures arose from the contemplation of nature alone, i had no companion: my warm affections finding no return from any other human heart were forced to run waste on inanimate objects.” ― mary shelley, mathilda

 

"as soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it" ― lao tzu, tao te ching

 

"all i know is that i know nothing" ― plato, apology

 
“to know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge” ― confucius, the analects
 
“meditation, education and beauty are the three transforming powers that can change individual and the whole world...and looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind” ― amit ray, meditation: insights and inspirations
 

“speak little. embrace silence. learn the words of eternity. go beyond your tangled thoughts and find the splendor of paradise” ― jalaluddin rumi, in the arms of the beloved

 

“your task is not to seek for and contemplate love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it” ― jalaluddin rumi, the big red book
 
“put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the sunshine in your heart. let go of thinking” ― jalaluddin rumi, bridge to the soul
 
“be empty of worrying. think of who created thought! why do you stay in prison without love, when the door is so wide open?” ― jalaluddin rumi, a year with rumi
 
“this being human is a guest house. every morning a new arrival. a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. welcome and entertain them all! even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. let them be a blessing, he may be clearing you out for some new delight. the dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, along with joy, and invite them in. be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond" ― jalaluddin rumi, the essential rumi  
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EXTRA BUDDH QUOTES
since this is an impression of a buddha contemplating under the stars, i am compelled to add a bunch of my favorite quotes from siddhartha gautama buddha today:
 
“however many holy words you contemplate, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada
 
“do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. the way is not in the sky; the way is in the heart” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
“in the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you”―  siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada
 
“there is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
“embrace nothing: if you meet the buddha, kill the buddha. only live your life as it is, not bound to anything.” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
"thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; a flash of lightening in a summer cloud; a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada
 
“live in joy, in love,
even among those who hate.
 
live in joy, in health,
even among the afflicted.
 
live in joy, in peace,
even among the troubled.
 
look within, be still.
free from fear and attachment,
know the sweet joy of the way" ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 

“is this an ego high or a peaceful high?” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
“the moment you see how important it is to love yourself, you will stop making others suffer” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, hakyamuni
 
“your actions are your only belongings” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada
 
“we are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. when the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves” ― siddhartha gautama buddha, the dhammapada
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"being blessed to find buddha in nature is transcending, discovering meaningful and peaceful contemplation with guidance, and meditating with love under the stars...sigh..." ― bodhinku, buddha
 
"contemplate without thinking. stop the world. slow down everything. shut off the noise. relax. seize this moment. reconnect. feel and sense what surrounds you. listen to all the colors of light that envelope you. see the melody and harmony that floats about unnoticed. taste the solitude of all this wonderment. smell the beautiful silence within your peaceful serenity. then, reach out and touch your faith. this is my world. awaken." ― bodhinku, my world
 
above all else as always, i hope this message and image find you well.

namaste,
bodhi
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