Reliquary, Amulet Box (Ga’u)
Eastern Tibet
19th century
height: 11 cm, width: 8.7 cm, depth: 4.8 cm
hand-beaten copper, orange lanyard
An over-filled prayer or amulet box called Ga’u (Gau), purchased in Nepal in the mid nineties, is the object of an almost forensic, photographic study.
The mission to explore, investigate, reveal and link it’s preciously gathered content to the present resulted in reliving the former carrier’s journey, a Tibetan monk of humble descent. Unravelling the voyage of the Gau and it’s bearer and bringing all to the consciousness of new observers places the content in a new dimension of recognition.
Ga’us were worn by Tibetan monks and devotees while travelling and on pilgrimages. They were strapped on the body, at heart level, as a travel shrine for protection and meditation. They are filled with numerous contemplative items (relics, amulets), gathered in a lifetime of encounters and some through inheritance, many with indicative scriptures on the folded envelopes.
The box dates probably from early 19th century and consists of two separate halves in hand-beaten copper with a chest and shoulder strap and knotted cords (a knot represents a blessing by a higher member of the Sangha (lama, tulku, rinpoche, ...) in various colors on the outside. Its face is engraved with the ideogram that represents the ten syllables of the Kalachakra mantra.
The Kalachakra empowerment pacifies conlicts, develops peace and reduces suffering and increases love and compassion. In Tibetan philosophy it is the essence of the energy which transcends the relative concepts of time and space. Kalachakra is a vehicle for world peace. Not enslaved any more by worldly pursuits and with the greatest intention, aspiration and devotion, holders of the Kalachakra sign are often called Warriors of Shambhala. The practice of the Kalachakra path, mastering fearlessly all suffering of Samsara (the impermanent external world), can lead to reaching the realm of ultimate potentiality, peace and harmony, even during this lifetime.
The age of the content, around 40 devotional items, varies from the 15th till the 20th century AD, according to the translated texts on some wraps, but most content is undated and withstands the element of time.
All artefacts, some only a few mm large, were meticulously photographed with high-resolution equipment. Most are stacked images of 15 to 70 shots to achieve a complete depth of field.
DISCLOSING THE SACRED
the illusionary nature of reality
The monk visited during his life’s voyages, probably around mid 20th century, numerous sacred places, encountered many sages, lama’s and tulku’s and attended many blissful ceremonies. Each event he materialised passionately in his portable prayer box by collecting a hair, a piece of cloth, rice grains, beads, ashes, ribbons, strings, feathers, artefacts, .... These objects, which as such became amulets, were carefully wrapped one by one in small paper envelopes, now shrines in themselves, and carried during his whereabouts in the ga’u, with an orange belt on his heart. In his belief, this evolving travel shrine protected him from evil spirits and guided him safely to his destinations and in a spiritual sense to his life destination.
Since he became the holder of the ga’u, Ludo Verstraete endeavoured in many travels to pilgrimage sites in North India, Nepal & Tibet among which visits to Lumbini, Lhasa, Sarnath, Bodnath … places likely the monk passed too, and a kora (5-day circumambulation) of the sacred Mt Kailash & Lake Manarasovar on Sagadawa (holy month) in the Year of the Horse (2002), when the Buddha was born and also made his passage to the infinite.
In a karmic sense, by revealing the content of the box in a visual photographic manner and by placing the content in a contemporary setting, the original monk’s itinerary is awakened and relived in an intimate encounter, questioning why or identifying with the initial reason why these items were chosen. By a leap of faith and in a reincarnated reality, are we witnessing our own previous items of choice? What brought us here now to witness this content? Is this our own box? Are keys to a (our) collective soul, in the emptiness beyond matter and meaning?
Resizing photographically the objects, in a fully exposed visual state, gives them temporarily a solitary, almost profane sculptural expression. However, the original spiritual bond remains intact by their presence in the monk’s ga’u and their journey they’ve made together on his heart. This can never be undone, just unwrapped, shared, disclosed in a backwards ritual, in which the viewer takes part by being present and agreeing or deciding to observe them.
In Greek mythology Pandora could not hold her curiosity and opened the box, releasing the (evil) spirits and leaving only hope inside.
As such every single revealed sacred item has the potential to become a gateway into a dimension of illusion or reality, solely defined by the viewer’s perception and his/her level of present awareness. It’s meaning only exists by the grace of the observer. Perception creates the illusion, presented as reality. Once accepted, this illusionary reality transcends and reveals a deeper essence. What lurks behind the obvious?
Opening and viewing the content of the lama’s box is an action that seems small or innocent at first but can turn out to have consequences in a metaphysical sense.
It’s at the viewer’s own discretion whether this potentially is: Pandora’s box (darkness unleashed), Aphrodite’s box (loving kindness) or simply an archaic art box.
Eastern Tibet
19th century
height: 11 cm, width: 8.7 cm, depth: 4.8 cm
hand-beaten copper, orange lanyard
An over-filled prayer or amulet box called Ga’u (Gau), purchased in Nepal in the mid nineties, is the object of an almost forensic, photographic study.
The mission to explore, investigate, reveal and link it’s preciously gathered content to the present resulted in reliving the former carrier’s journey, a Tibetan monk of humble descent. Unravelling the voyage of the Gau and it’s bearer and bringing all to the consciousness of new observers places the content in a new dimension of recognition.
Ga’us were worn by Tibetan monks and devotees while travelling and on pilgrimages. They were strapped on the body, at heart level, as a travel shrine for protection and meditation. They are filled with numerous contemplative items (relics, amulets), gathered in a lifetime of encounters and some through inheritance, many with indicative scriptures on the folded envelopes.
The box dates probably from early 19th century and consists of two separate halves in hand-beaten copper with a chest and shoulder strap and knotted cords (a knot represents a blessing by a higher member of the Sangha (lama, tulku, rinpoche, ...) in various colors on the outside. Its face is engraved with the ideogram that represents the ten syllables of the Kalachakra mantra.
The Kalachakra empowerment pacifies conlicts, develops peace and reduces suffering and increases love and compassion. In Tibetan philosophy it is the essence of the energy which transcends the relative concepts of time and space. Kalachakra is a vehicle for world peace. Not enslaved any more by worldly pursuits and with the greatest intention, aspiration and devotion, holders of the Kalachakra sign are often called Warriors of Shambhala. The practice of the Kalachakra path, mastering fearlessly all suffering of Samsara (the impermanent external world), can lead to reaching the realm of ultimate potentiality, peace and harmony, even during this lifetime.
The age of the content, around 40 devotional items, varies from the 15th till the 20th century AD, according to the translated texts on some wraps, but most content is undated and withstands the element of time.
All artefacts, some only a few mm large, were meticulously photographed with high-resolution equipment. Most are stacked images of 15 to 70 shots to achieve a complete depth of field.
DISCLOSING THE SACRED
the illusionary nature of reality
The monk visited during his life’s voyages, probably around mid 20th century, numerous sacred places, encountered many sages, lama’s and tulku’s and attended many blissful ceremonies. Each event he materialised passionately in his portable prayer box by collecting a hair, a piece of cloth, rice grains, beads, ashes, ribbons, strings, feathers, artefacts, .... These objects, which as such became amulets, were carefully wrapped one by one in small paper envelopes, now shrines in themselves, and carried during his whereabouts in the ga’u, with an orange belt on his heart. In his belief, this evolving travel shrine protected him from evil spirits and guided him safely to his destinations and in a spiritual sense to his life destination.
Since he became the holder of the ga’u, Ludo Verstraete endeavoured in many travels to pilgrimage sites in North India, Nepal & Tibet among which visits to Lumbini, Lhasa, Sarnath, Bodnath … places likely the monk passed too, and a kora (5-day circumambulation) of the sacred Mt Kailash & Lake Manarasovar on Sagadawa (holy month) in the Year of the Horse (2002), when the Buddha was born and also made his passage to the infinite.
In a karmic sense, by revealing the content of the box in a visual photographic manner and by placing the content in a contemporary setting, the original monk’s itinerary is awakened and relived in an intimate encounter, questioning why or identifying with the initial reason why these items were chosen. By a leap of faith and in a reincarnated reality, are we witnessing our own previous items of choice? What brought us here now to witness this content? Is this our own box? Are keys to a (our) collective soul, in the emptiness beyond matter and meaning?
Resizing photographically the objects, in a fully exposed visual state, gives them temporarily a solitary, almost profane sculptural expression. However, the original spiritual bond remains intact by their presence in the monk’s ga’u and their journey they’ve made together on his heart. This can never be undone, just unwrapped, shared, disclosed in a backwards ritual, in which the viewer takes part by being present and agreeing or deciding to observe them.
In Greek mythology Pandora could not hold her curiosity and opened the box, releasing the (evil) spirits and leaving only hope inside.
As such every single revealed sacred item has the potential to become a gateway into a dimension of illusion or reality, solely defined by the viewer’s perception and his/her level of present awareness. It’s meaning only exists by the grace of the observer. Perception creates the illusion, presented as reality. Once accepted, this illusionary reality transcends and reveals a deeper essence. What lurks behind the obvious?
Opening and viewing the content of the lama’s box is an action that seems small or innocent at first but can turn out to have consequences in a metaphysical sense.
It’s at the viewer’s own discretion whether this potentially is: Pandora’s box (darkness unleashed), Aphrodite’s box (loving kindness) or simply an archaic art box.