“Dhamma” – The path of righteousness + “Pada” – Steps = “Dhammapada” – to tread on the path of righteousness through steps aimed at training the mind. The region of Yuanyang (China) offers a unique self-sustainable eco-system, humidity and rainfall, optimal for rice cultivation. Expanse of rice...
Chasing happiness, shying suffering, I experienced suffering in the back alleys of happiness. Failing to isolate the two, I wondered how can I see both as one? When I chased happiness, it soon transformed into dissatisfaction. On the other hand, looking at life from a...
Prepared through self-effort, as observers we need to be able to spot and leverage positive situations being created around us. This is the principle for attaining positive growth in any aspect of life. With this mindset, before dawn we positioned ourselves at a vantage point to capture the spectacle...
Beauty is that which does not reveal itself in totality. It holds an element of mystery, the undescribable that links to transcendence. When beauty surrounds itself by mystery, inviting to find it through an experience, it can create a sense of enlightenment, leading to silence. The weather at Yuanyang...
Why should one fight a challenging situation? Rather working with it, one can capitalize to an advantage. At Tawang Monastery, watching a group of Monks dance, photographically it created a challenging situation. The camera was directly facing the setting sun, creating dark silhouettes. So I decided not to...
Borobudur Temple at Yogyakarta is a magnificent architecture from the era when Buddhism flourished in Indonesia. The three tiered temple design represents man’s internal progression from worldly to blissful state of formless, as taught by Buddha. Kamadhatu represents engagement in worldly desires. It displays intricate stone carvings depicting...
The spectrum of my learning spans across engineering, music, management, philosophy, photography and writing. Learning engineering and management was tough but a relatively easy journey. I stayed on course, memorized the postulates and just applied them to situations. Same with music, where having learnt Raags (combination of notes) and...
The vastness of milky way and ambiguity of space was etherized by the chillness in air. In the distance I could hear the clatter of hoofs. It was 4 AM and time to start walking towards Bromo, an active volcano. Being at the caldera in the early hours gave me...
One third of the world’s active volcanoes lie in Indonesia. One such active volcano, a three hour drive from Surabaya in East Java, is Mount Bromo (Javanese for Brahma, the Hindu god of Creation / fire). Mount Bromo is actually a fuming crater lying within a much larger crater (caldera)....