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White Village

 

 

 

 

 

Ocean in the mind beckons

a white village in the mountain.

 

 

Driving from Leh to Lamayuru, we diverted on a road less travelled and found ourselves in the cradle of a valley with snow capped peaks, nestled above us a village painted in white. It was beckoning us to walk its alleys.

 

As I made photos of the white village, my thoughts ran wild, thinking about intellect and mind.

 

“Whiteness” of mind is a metaphor for the highest level of spiritual attainment and for me the color of this village became the catalyst for my thoughts to evolve.

 

Intellect is a thorny problem for spiritual aspirants. One cannot do without intellect but at the same time it cannot be allowed to dominate. Intellect is required for right discrimination but beyond a certain point, it becomes a hurdle. The crutches of intellect have to be abandoned when the spiritual journey starts providing a glimpse of the “Whiteness” of mind.

 

Within the “Whitness”, or clarity of mind, the intellect has a potency to create black spots. Kabir in Adi Granth says,


Says Kabir! As is the intellect within (one’s) mind, so does (he) come to understand. (Adi Granth, Page 325)


Is this the reason why this village is painted entirely in white, or was it just me and my thoughts?

 

1Photo : Village in Ladakh.

2Photo : Village in Ladakh.

3Photo : Village in Ladakh.

4Photo : Village in Ladakh.

5Photo : Village in Ladakh.

6Photo : Village in Ladakh.

7Photo : Village in Ladakh.

Comments(10)

  1. Reply
    Dhruv Jolly says:

    Mindboggling … _/\_ …. 😀

  2. Reply
    Rahul Deshpande says:

    Lovely. Looks remarkably like “Ki” village, between Tabo and Kunzum in Spiti. Do try and see the interiors of Lahaul-Spiti as well if you get a chance. Fortunately it’s still relatively unspoilt by the hordes or tourists that Leh is subject to.

  3. Reply
    Surupa Chatterjee says:

    What do I say to this one…..just a silent sigh…where and when the mind just wants to stop pondering and just revel in the beauty of these mystical structures nestled almost in the lap of god and head sincerely bowed in admiration for the gifted eyes and hands that captured them for us ,a far away audience to give them that magical high to feel almost transported there….

  4. Reply
    Satinder Rekhi says:

    The white buildings is probably a trigger for your white thoughts! 🙂

  5. Reply
    Moninder Singh Modgil says:

    Beautiful commentary and photographs.

  6. Reply
    Karamjeet Singh says:

    Thanks Amardeep for the Nice pictures.I am wonderstuck how men and matrials could reach this height of habitat.Looking at your pictures it shows how robust is the Tibetian Architecture.Tibetians had established a distinct identity in contrast to Chinese or any other denomination.Your earlier coverage on Sikh General Zorawar Singh,on his Tibetian forays gives a vivid account of these people.Nice anthropology study in depth.Nice work.

  7. Reply
    Kishore kumar Biswas says:

    Intellect is necessary to judge or analyse things. Feelings is necessary to enjoy. To enjoy the beauty one does not need to be ” intellectual “.Beauty is something beyond intellect . We do not be expert in botany to be mesmerized by a ” rose “. it on seeing a rose we began to analyse in terms of botany then the rose ceased to be a ” rose ” , it becomes a mere lifeless object of theory. It then loses it beauty.
    Amardeep brings the true beauty of nature or the material world through his photograph as he takes a snap with feelings , with soul , He leads us to the world of ” joy ” instead of the world of ” analysis “.
    With him we reach the world of ” beauty “.

  8. Reply
    Jasmeet says:

    Your words have engrossed me more than those striking pictures. I do not know whether to gaze at the photography or to ponder on the words, esp. the paragraph where you talk of intellect….too deep and so so true

  9. Reply
    Satsangi N P says:

    Dear Amardeep I agree with your thought about whiteness of the village
    Nice write up and amazing pictures

  10. Reply
    Kacho Manzoor says:

    Beautiful Nice

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