Streams of Divine Wisdom
A meditation on the symbolism of water in the Bahá’í sacred writings — variously expressed as “streams,” “living waters,” and “wellsprings.”
Thus will all peoples witness the power of the Most Great Name, and every nation acknowledge the might of the Ancient Beauty, and see how He hath toppled down the walls of discord, and how surely He hath guided all the peoples of the earth to oneness; how He hath lit man’s world, and made this earth of dust to send forth streams of light.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 21
O God, my God! This is thy radiant servant, Thy spiritual thrall, who hath drawn nigh unto Thee and approached Thy presence. He hath turned his face unto Thine, acknowledging Thy oneness, confessing Thy singleness, and he hath called out in Thy name among the nations, and led the people to the streaming waters of Thy mercy, O Thou Most generous Lord! To those who asked He hath given to drink from the cup of guidance that brimmeth over with the wine of Thy measureless grace.
O Lord, assist him under all conditions, cause him to learn Thy well-guarded mysteries, and shower down upon him Thy hidden pearls. Make of him a banner rippling from castle summits in the winds of Thy heavenly aid, make of him a wellspring of crystal waters.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 43
As to the Holy Manifestations of God, They are the focal points where the signs, tokens and perfections of that sacred, pre-existent Reality appear in all their splendour. They are an eternal grace, a heavenly glory, and on Them dependeth the everlasting life of humankind. To illustrate: the Sun of Truth dwelleth in a sky to which no soul hath any access, and which no mind can reach, and He is far beyond the comprehension of all creatures. Yet the Holy Manifestations of God are even as a looking-glass, burnished and without stain, which gathereth streams of light out of that Sun, and then scattereth the glory over the rest of creation. In that polished surface, the Sun with all Its majesty standeth clearly revealed. Thus, should the mirrored Sun proclaim, ‘I am the Sun!’ this is but truth; and should It cry, ‘I am not the Sun!’ this is the truth as well. And although the Day-Star, with all Its glory, Its beauty, Its perfections, be clearly visible in that mirror without stain, still It hath not come down from Its own lofty station in the realms above, It hath not made Its way into the mirror; rather doth It continue to abide, as It will forever, in the supernal heights of Its own holiness.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 50
We have made each one of Our Names a wellspring from which We have caused the streams of divine wisdom and understanding to gush forth and flow in the garden of Our Cause — streams whose number none can reckon save Thy Lord, the Most Holy, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise.
Bahá’u’lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
Download a brief compilation from the Bahá’í sacred writings on the symbolism of Streams, Living Waters, and Wellsprings (16 pages in PDF format).
The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart. ~ Robert Schumann
Tags: Artist, Baha'i, meditation, Religion, Sacred Text, ScriptureRelated posts
My Blue Period
Last month I talked about my use of intense colors and ‘false’ colors. Now I want to talk about simple color.
I didn’t just push Ektachrome two or three stops; I tortured it. Sometimes I developed high-speed film in C-100 color negative developer or Rodinal black and white developer. Other times I flashed it with yellow or blue lights halfway through development. That process is called the Sabbatier effect and sometimes also called solarization. Those were some of the ways I created the colors that I did. And almost every photo I ever took was backlighted.
I photographed this image which is titled Simplicity—Blue and Black in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, through a dense blue filter. The technique I used is called panning. Panning means you move your camera to follow the object in motion and expose the image at a slow shutter speed typically about 1/30 of a second. This photograph’s web page is here.
This photograph was part of the same series.
Almost 30 years ago in San Francisco at a Seals and Crofts concert I saw an amazing 13-minute film during the intermission. I never forgot it because that short film became an influence on my methods of photography. The film was called Pas de Deux. This is how the Canadian National Film Board describes it: “Norman McLaren takes a look at the choreography of ballet, with cinema effects that are all that you would expect from this master of improvisation in music and illustration. By exposing the same frames as many as ten times, the artist creates a multiple image of the ballerina and her partner (Margaret Mercier and Vincent Warren). A bare, black stage and back-lit figures, plus the remote, airy music of panpipes, produce a quiet and detachment similar to that of Lines. A film without words.”
You can find a few videos of McLaren’s films on YouTube. Enter Norman McLaren in the Search box. I also recommend the video titled Phantasy.
Here are two frames that I captured from Pas de Deux. I replaced their black backgrounds with blue and slightly sharpened the dancers.
For me, watching those videos is another form of meditation. They bestow peace, clarity, and beauty.
The simple act of stopping and looking at the beauty around us can be prayer. — Patricia R. Barrett, The Sacred Garden
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. — Anne Frank
Simplicity without a name
Is free from all external aim.
With no desire, at rest and still,
All things go right as of their will.
Tao, Tao Te Ching (J. Legge, tr)
Related posts
Meditation
(C) Copyright Cary Enoch Reinstein
O God! This is a broken-winged bird and his flight is very slow — assist him so that he may fly toward the apex of prosperity and salvation, wing his way with the utmost joy and happiness throughout the illimitable space, raise his melody in Thy Supreme Name in all the regions, exhilarate the ears with this call, and brighten the eyes by beholding the signs of guidance. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 89
Love supplies the impulse to that intense and unceasing meditation which reveals the hidden mysteries of the universe. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 435
(C) Copyright Cary Enoch Reinstein
Therefore, know thou that the True One possesseth invisible worlds which human meditation is unable to comprehend and the intellect of man hath no power to imagine. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Baha’i World Faith – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Section, p. 393
Engage in prayer. Prayer is the best known and most widely practiced example of meditation. Spoken and written prayers are found in most faith traditions. You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others.Read or listen and take time to reflect. Many people report that they benefit from reading poems or sacred texts silently or aloud, and taking a few moments to quietly reflect on the meaning that the words bring to mind. You can listen to sacred music, spoken words or any music you find relaxing or inspiring. You may want to write your reflections in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.
Focus your love and gratitude. In this type of meditation, you focus your attention on a sacred object or being, weaving feelings of love and gratitude into your thoughts. You can also close your eyes and use your imagination or gaze at representations of the object.
Source: mayoclinic.com
A few passages about meditation from the Baha’i writings
Tags: Baha'i, faith, meditationRelated posts
Walking Into Paintings
(C) Copyright Cary Enoch Reinstein
Last week, I showed Moonlight how to walk into paintings. That is a simple detachment once someone shows you how. When you are inside you can reach out to anyone looking at the work. You can reach them and speak to them. They won’t hear you with their senses but they will get your message. You can do that because works of art create their own psychic space, no more or less real than any other space. Some paintings do it better than others.
For excursions, I don’t think that I’d recommend The Scream. Not to Moon anyway.
You immerse yourself in the landscape, in the world of the painting, in its sounds, in its life. Moonlight learned where I go when I crave peace. I took her hand. We opened a book and stepped into a Monet. Dressed in white cotton. We wore straw hats tied with silk scarves. We carried parasols with Oriental patterns on them. In high-button shoes. We stepped softly through an infinite Monet. We crossed a footbridge. We paused to languidly gaze at waterlilies. We watched the fishing boats go out at sunrise. The light played through radiant clouds on stacks of hay and sparkling cathedrals. How wonderfully it changed throughout the day. We floated on the clouds reflected in lily ponds. We were pink and blue reflections on ripples of water. We laughed. Moonlight was radiant with joy. I showed her that the place she often saw in her visions was real. It was tactile. It was aural. We felt the breezes and we became breezes. We felt the dew. We became the sparkling droplets on dark green leaves. We felt the warmth of the sun. We became pure lights. We radiated warmth. We gave life to flowers. To the pond. To each other. All of it was real. We wore long dresses of white cotton. We were flowers of every possible color. We held hands. We carried parasols. We flew kites. We walked across the meadow. In white cotton. In high button shoes. With silk scarves. We danced. We laughed. I shared the secret of the Muses with Moonlight. With love.
Last night we walked into Starry Night. Moon rearranged some stars but when we left, we tidied up. Everything was just as we found it. Floating on music is another acquired skill. I wanted to show Moonlight how to float on Baroque music. On Enya’s music. On Sarah McLachlan’s music. On Loreena McKennitt’s music. Finally I believe that some humans may be capable of Soul Ballooning. Back home Soul Ballooning is a team sport.
(C) Copyright Cary Enoch Reinstein
I wrote this in 2001. It came to me in a daydream from the unusual (for me) point of view of one of the women in a famous Monet painting of two women in a meadow. There’s a print of it in my doctor’s waiting room where the daydream happened.
I used two characters from a story I had already written. The speaker is the Melpomene the muse of tragedy. In my story she was a wholly alien life-form. This wasn’t written as poetry. It’s just an evocative meditation.
Countless works of art have been truly inspired and that inspiration stays in association with the work and is mirrored in the heart and the mind of the receptive viewer. (Otto Rogers)
When you start a painting, it is somewhat outside you. At the conclusion you seem to move inside the painting. (Botero)
Tags: Loreena McKennitt, meditation, Sarah McLachlan
