Photography at it's finest.
Breathtaking!!!
I especially like the dandelion covered with dew...
Beautiful.
Thanks for God’s Eye Candy Excellent Photos
Nicely done. I love to take photos and I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve looked up and said, ‘Thanks, God!’ when something gorgeous hits my lens. :)
These are really stunning pictures!
Kurosawa was having a pleasant lunch at an outdoor café in Japan with his good friend Baso, the elderly Buddhist monk.
The weather was beautiful and the view was gorgeous, with several billowy cumulostratus clouds gracefully kissing the tops of the mountains on the horizon. It was a scenic vista that would have put Ansel Adams to shame.
Kurosawa was speaking. ".. Baso, I respectfully disagree. I believe that we remain separate entities, that we retain our distinct identity as creations apart from Him. We do not become Him. We do not become God. That is actually mankind's first and oldest sin: man wanting to become or replace God. And that sin never goes away. It is the root of much of the evil in the world, to replace God's system with man's own. Systems like National Socialism and Communism. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. Those failed attempts to create a man-made utopia, a Volksgemeinschaft or a worker's paradise, have caused more self-inflicted human misery and mass death than anything else in history."
The man in the orange robes smiled as he gently admonished his colleague. "Now, Akira, I did not say that. What I meant was that the bodhisattva merges with what you call the Godhead. It is like a drop of water returning to the ocean, losing its independent existence. It does not become it or replace it. Indeed, a man wanting to become God would be the height of arrogance. And that is one reason I agree with you concerning your diagnosis about human misery: that it is self-inflicted. You are correct. It is because of our failure to achieve detachment, or nekkhamma, from this sad world."
Kurosawa sipped his tea as he nodded, "And on that point I agree with you as well. There is far too much worldliness, what you would call maya. People fail to realize that there are far more important things in life than simply chasing a paycheck or watching the ball game on TV."
Baso sipped his own tea. "Mmm."
"People simply fail to see what is right in front of their eyes. All the evidence is right there in front of them. Creation says something about the nature of its Creator. Something very important, in fact. I mean, look! Look out there!" Kurosawa pointed.
Kurosawa was pointing out at the glorious scenic outdoor vista, with the emerald forests climbing up the sides of the mountains as the birds flew overhead.
"What is the purpose for this? Why?"
Baso nodded, "Ah, this is your question again, 'Why is God showing off?'"
Kurosawa chuckled, "I admit I'm deliberately being provocative whenever I say that." He leaned forward. "I do it for a reason. And here, old friend, is where we start to diverge in our two religions: The nature of Creation and its purpose."
Baso asked, "Does the universe need to have a purpose?"
Kurosawa nodded as he swallowed his noodles. "It does. Physical creation, I mean. And the reason is obvious in my opinion. Because, I mean, just look at it. Just look at it all. The stars in the heavens, the billions of majestic spiral galaxies each with billions of stars of their own, and we can see it all. We can see it! It is no coincidence that the whole physical universe is carefully designed so that we can see it all as lowly humans.
Baso spoke again, "I too have great respect for just how sublime, grand, deep, and majestic the Great Wheel really is. And you are correct in that we need to realize just how insignificant we are in comparison to it. That we are utterly nothing in comparison."
"It's true, that kind of humility is very important. Wish more people had it."
Baso sighed, "Yes, that lack of humility, that lack of understanding, is what causes so much suffering in the world. But the Great Wheel exists in itself. Why is that not sufficient?"
Kurosawa's eyes were glittering, "Yes, exactly. It begs the question: Why? Why can we view the wonders of creation in our lowly maya-ridden forms? Why? Why, when we, as you would say, can simply gain nirvana and merge with it instead? Why can we see that creation as separate entities? That is why I believe that God and his creation are distinct. Isn't it obvious? Look around you. Do you see perfection? Is my body perfect? Is yours?"
The two elderly men both chuckled at that remark, with Kurosawa sitting crippled in his wheelchair and Baso's wooden cane leaning against the table.
Kurosawa pressed his point home, "The reason is simple: the glory of Creation exists to show us the glory of God. Because it allows us to glorify Him in return. Don't you see? He doesn't want to merge, He wants a relationship. Someone to chat with. That, my friend, is why we exist as separate creatures. And it explains everything: why a separate Creation exists, why we have independent existence, why we have free will, why sin exists, why the Lamb had to die, everything."
"And so you believe that Creation has a purpose."
Kurosawa rolled up some more noodles. "I do. I believe that Creation is a demonstration exercise, done by God, for our benefit. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so carefully designed to be visible to us across billions of light years. It's too wildly improbable to be that way by chance. And so God wants us to see, to understand, and to appreciate what He has done. The whole point of Creation is for His glory. Of Him: The universe, the heavens, life large and small, from the largest galactic super-cluster down to the smallest bacterium, and everything in-between. And it is no accident that it is all visible to us, that we can actually see it all, that we can see the whole glory of Creation, which shines as a reflection of His own glory."
Some beautiful pictures there, but I suspect the toasting marshmallow one, the "low clouds over a volcano", though it looks real at first glance is probably a photoshop. Here's my thinking:
So what do you think? I may be completely wrong. Regardless, it was a brain teaser I enjoyed thinking about.
Wonderful pictures at link.
A NICE reprieve from the world.
This would make a great idea for a daily thread, like the astronomy picture of the day.
