Oriental Studies/Estudos Orientais

For more information (in Portuguese), click HERE.

Van Dog

Click to read it (in Portuguese)

Charm

I'm thrilled because this blog received the Charm Prize. Thanks to the blog Through the Window.
An now the prize goes to:

Azul Porcelana
blog@conceição
Folhas Perdidas
Imagens com Texto
Traços e Cores
Van Dog

and last, but not the least:
Through the Window

Van Dog

Click to read it (in Portuguese)

Across the Universe

Macedonia

St. George's Island in Macedonia (Republica of Macedonia). As you can see, this beautiful island is the real motive of the painting "Isle of the Dead" from Arnold Böcklin. See my last post on Böcklin (May 31th)

An Idea...

USA vs UK

Jon Stewart Schools John Oliver: US Elections Are Better Than UK Elections
- Watch more Funny Videos at Vodpod.

Nirvana

"There is a realm, where there is neither the solid (earth), nor the fluid (water), neither heat (fire), nor motion (wind), neither this world, nor any other world, neither sun, nor moon. This I call neither arising, nor passing away, neither standing still nor being born, nor dying. There is neither foothold, nor development, nor any basis. This is the end of suffering.
There is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. If there were not this Unborn, this Unoriginated, this Uncreated, this Unformed, escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed, would not be possible.
But since there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, therefore is escape possible from the world of the born, the
originated, the created, the formed."
The Buddha (Udana)

The Power of our Imagination

Click it!

The German painter Stephan Lochner (1440-1451) never had seen a lion in his life. But as a mediaeval painter (school of Cologne, gothic art) he was familiar with the topic, Saint Jerome and the Lion. So he decided to paint one with his own imagination... This story is narrated by Tom Regan to exemplify the difference between our knowledge of animals in the past and in the present. And how this knowledge matters...

Van Dog

Click it (the comic strip is in Portuguese).

Isle of the Dead

When I saw for the first time these two paintings, I thought to myself: "it is impossible to know by the Internet how a painting really looks". But then I realise that there are five versions of this famous symbolist painting, and we're seeing in this post the first (1880) and the fifth (1888). Arnold Böcklin is also the author of the painting: Isle of the Living (Die Lebensinsel, 1888), but it is not so beautiful as "Isle of the Dead" (Die Toteninsel). Lost fans, please be aware of the driver from Oceanic (last episode) with the name "Bocklin".

Egyptian Senet with an Irish Flavour (Flavor)

Please look to the symbols on the right...

And you'll find in this Egyptian board game the same symbols from Newgrange

On Senet, click HERE.

Newgrange, one of the most magical places I have been (inside).
And inside the cave I saw the Light... really

On Newgrange, click HERE

Happy Vesak

Live together and you won't die alone

Click it (© picture from Lostpedia)
The Island is a metaphor, a symbolic narrative of our lives (where Lost is the keyword); the Flash-sideways, a touching metaphor of our afterlives (where Found is the keyword). But if you prefer, everything can be the last dream of a dying man near his dog. It's up to you to decide...

Tulasi

Templo de Ratazanas

Alguns dos meus leitores podem ficar um pouco incomodados com a ideia deste templo; afinal associamos as ratazanas à peste negra e a doenças terríveis. Como sublinha Gilbert Durand, provavelmente o medo humano dos ratos deriva do facto de se movimentarem a uma enorme velocidade, o que nos faz sentir que não temos controlo sobre eles. E o que os seres humanos gostam é de controlarem, o que quer que seja... Este templo na Índia é um belo exemplo do respeito que o Dharma da cultura indiana tem pela Vida em todas as suas formas. Fica situado em Deshnoke no estado do Rajastão. O templo chama-se Karni Mata e baseia-se na seguinte história medieval (séc.XIV): Karni Mata, incarnação da deusa Durga, implorou ao deus da morte, Yama, que não levasse com ele o filho de um narrador. Como a Morte recusou, a deusa, ela própria, incarnou o próprio jovem morto como uma ratazana.

What they died for

Joy to the World

Clique na fotografia para a ver em boas condições.
Thanks to Kathy!

A passo de tartaruga

Clique na imagem para a ver em boas condições.
Tartaruga tibetana conduzindo o quadrado mágico associado ao Lo Shu.
Uma representação moderna do mesmo:

Basta fazer as contas em todas as direcções...