WPC – Trio for the Wisdom

Cute Trio for the Wisdom

I was wandering around Wat Arun park in Bangkok when I saw these trio cute little wooden monkeys, -each around 9 cm height-, abandoned on the floor of a souvenir kiosk and separated from the main things they sell. I could not help not to capture them for their representation of ancient wisdom.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Based on Wikipedia, originally the three wise monkeys as symbols were coming from Japan. Mizaru who is covering the eyes as the symbol not to see evil, Kikazaru or sometimes we called Mikazaru who is covering the ears as the symbol not to hear evil and Iwazaru or sometimes we called Mazaru who is covering the mouth as the symbol not to speak evil.

Although this philosophy was carved over a door of a shrine in Japan around 17th century, it might be shortened from Confucius’ phrase from at least 4th-century BC.: “Look not at what is contrary to propriety, Listen not to what is contrary to propriety, Speak not at what is contrary to propriety, Make no movement which is contrary to propriety” The last phrase is related to ‘do no evil’.

See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil

Incredibly, this wisdom was also represented in 6th-century golden tribal figurine which now are kept in southeast section of a gold museum in Budapest. And like the other wisdom, this one also travelled far and spread to Ethiopia which among the locals, they have the saying “Let the eye fast, let the mouth fast, let the ears fast”.

And spread to India as well, which was known in Sanskrit, Manasa (mind), Vaacha (speech) and Karmana (action). Which are together used to describe a state of consistency expected of an individual that one should strive to achieve the state where one’s thoughts, speech and the actions coincide.

World is so awesome…

But,

Since it is not easy to apply this philosophy into the daily life, sometimes people do the justification and shallow on Shizaru, -the 4th-monkey who is covering the genital or crossing the arms as the symbol of not to do evil-, and depict it with a sulking gesture and a face of have no fun 🙂

WPC : Change in Pokhara

We’re all asked to show a change in progress in one or more photos for this week’s photo challenge. And for this time, I select 4 photos during my trip last year in Raniban, a hilly area in Pokhara, Nepal. Hope these photos fulfilled the challenge.

Well, Pokhara is beautiful, less crowded than Kathmandu. If you’re a nature lover or a sport junkies or just-do-nothing lover, Pokhara is a must destination.

And I was happy staying in Raniban because I could see Phewa Lake and the city of Pokhara down below at early morning, at noon, at late afternoon and at night. And it’s heaven on earth that I could see Mt. Macchapuchare or known as Fishtail, a beautiful peak in Himalayan Range.

Do you see the World Peace Stupa on the right of the photos? Well it is walking distance from the hotel, of course you have to go several downs and ups 🙂 It’s healthy, anyway…

Do you have been to Pokhara?

Pokhara and Phewa Lake in the Late Afternoon

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Pokhara and Phewa Lake at Night

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Clouds over Phewa Lake and Pokhara in Early Morning

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Pokhara and Phewa Lake At Noon

In response to The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme : Change

 

WPC – Through The Grid

I was in Kuala Lumpur and just wandering in a mall.  I stopped in a spot and looked up…  I saw the Petronas Twin Towers through a grid on the roof, although not the whole building, but I could see the bridge..

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Through A Grid

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And another time, I was on the escalator to Sky Terrace at The Peak, Hong Kong. Just had a limited moment to capture Hong Kong view through a beautiful grid

Hong Kong view from the Sky Terrace, The Peak

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And again another time… I fell in love with the atmosphere in a traditional house in Japan, with a grid of wooden windows and doors.

Once Upon A Time in Japan

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In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Grid

 

 

WPC – A Kite that Connected

Flying kite

One nice thing to do in Bali is watching the kites in the beach as I did some time ago. From the shade where I sat, I saw a colorful boat-shaped kite dancing up and down beautifully in the air, with the white clouds and blue sky as the background. The kite was connected through a strong white string that almost cannot be seen.

It was like life, sometimes the kite swooping down and by time it’s going up again. Or perhaps we lose in a battle with another kite. Well, the wind, the other kites, the strong string and the skills of the kite-fliers became the symbol in life. As Kathy Reichs said, –Remember, I might be the wind, but you control the kite-.

Kites in Bali beach

This post is written in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme – Connected

WPC – Lotus from Every Angle

When I visited Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2 weeks ago, I saw this beautiful flower. A lotus. I could not help myself not to capture it with my pocket camera. Well, here is my submission to this week’s photo challenge with the theme From Every Angle.

A little bit close

The original lotus

Lotus from Above

and another one…

Lotus from the height level

WPC – A Peacock Feather on ROY G BIV

For this week’s photo challenge, I took my red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet scarfs. And I took my peacock feather from the vase and Voilà…

A Peacock Feather on ROYGBIV

A peacock will eventually show its true colors, so don’t be afraid to let them show.

Your true colors are beautiful, like a rainbow

In response to Weekly Photo Challenge with this week’s theme : ROY G BIV

Weekly Photo Challenge On The Way – The Heart Warmer

For this week’s photo challenge, Michelle asked us to share interesting photos we saw on the way to our destination. Something stunning others might have missed or unexpected beauty in a mundane moment.

I select 3 photos, perhaps those are not stunning or beautiful, but those have something different. I classify those photos as the heart-warmer because I had a mixed feeling when taking those photos. Amazed to the acrobatic style that made me smile, touched for struggling life, a little bit afraid for the dangerous things they did, and so on. But I believe one thing that summarizes the photos; they did for living better life.

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On the way to Phnom Penh Airport

I took the first photo on the way to Phnom Penh airport. I was amazed to the acrobatic style they did. Although it’s dangerous, but I believe they were in rush to prepare their kiosk. They did not want to miss any chance to get more customers in the morning. Perhaps they believe Benjamin Franklin’s quote, the early morning has gold in its mouth.

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A brave farmer on a motorbike

About the second photo, I took this photo on the way to Deles, a place in the foot of Mt. Merapi. It was unusual for me seeing a female farmer sitting on high hay on a motorbike. Actually I was amazed to the brave farmer. But again, I was touched when I passed over them. I saw a tired but sincere faces of a mother and perhaps her son who rode the motorbike…

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Keep the togetherness in good and bad times

And last but not least, I took the third photo on the way to Jogjakarta during ‘Mudik’ time, the time for going back to the family in the hometowns, usually for celebrating Idul Fitri, the end of fasting month of Ramadhan. They rode on a motorbike – sometimes full with gifts for the families at home-, through the dangers on roads in several days and nights. And from this picture we can see that they walked and pushed the bike together because of its flat tire. They kept their togetherness for the quality time of a family, in bad and happy time…

Weekly Photo Challenge – Broken Refugees

The last boats of Vietnamese boat people, Galang Island

This week’s photo challenge is Broken and I select a photo from the past when I visited Galang Refugee Camp which is now only an abandoned deserted memorial place.

This boat was one of the last boats that were stranded in Galang Island around 1980-1990s. It is a symbol of life struggle, when millions of Vietnamese boat people left their land behind and tried to get a better life although having to sail across the South China Sea. They, -men, women, children, old and young- faced a lot of problems, many of the people failed to survive because of the overcrowded boat, storms, starvation, including the pirates on the way to their main destination. And the boat people survivors, thousands of them,  were stranded in Galang Island as refugees and then resettled in other countries from time to time.

Boat of the Vietnamese Boat people in Galang Island