Truth is One, Paths are Many
In Hinduism, the individual soul (atman or sound of aum) within an individual (jiva, purush) gets off the wheel (mandala) of death & rebirth (samsara)
by right action (karma) leading hopefully to enlightenment (moksha)!
Appealing to Brahman (the creator), Vishnu ( the protector), and Shiva ( the destroyer), the pilgrim/ child of God /student/ householder/ retiree or wandering one (sanyasin, sadhu, rishi,guru) walks a path of renunciation (ahimsa= do no harm) and devotion/service (bhakti yoga). The Sanskrit root words of bhakti are bhanj = to break and bhaj = to be pssessed by love and/or loyalty.
“Violent Devotion” murmurs to me, as a westerner of dualistic Latin/ English languages, as constant heartbreak, a seeming oxymoron. Yoga means the union or yoking together of two or more opposites. Khalil Gibran spoke of the human heart as a gourd or ground ever growing larger in capacity & quality with each new shattering of these synaptic junctions.
My artwork embraces virus as medicine, death as rebirth, hunger as longing for love, chess board or playing field as as conscientous choice, strategy or tactic and black holes of dark matter as magnetic ives of re- creation. Nothing less is BS.
Variuos holy wars are being fought at dinner tables & weaponized cyber-zen chemical AI drone battlefields every night & day all across America & our sweet Blue Planet! Choosing a place to stand, 6 ft socially distanced, move, dance and fight is crucial! “Apathy is not an option” reads my red Rav4 bumper sticker!