Facing our mortality

Article

29 Dec

Written By Vajradarshini

“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.”

— Frank Lloyd Wright

The image above is from a series by ANASTASIA POTTINGER, called -

100: WHAT TIME CREATES

I first came across Anastasia’s pictures many years ago and they immediately bought to mind ancient olive trees. I’d lived surrounded by such trees in the mountains of Spain some years back. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that these ancient trees had an incredible beauty and a kind of sacredness that younger trees didn’t have.

Seeing these photos, the question arose, why is it different with bodies? For me at least, it is different. It’s as if there are veils of views and fears that lie between me and the beauty. These veils seem to cloud my vision, but if I sit long enough, they fall away.

My first response is wanting to look away. There’s both aversion and fear. I don’t want to face old age and death. There’s almost a horror to it. Remember the story of the young man who would become the Buddha when he first ventured out from his protected life in the palace and saw old age, sickness, and death? Well, it’s as if some of us too live in a palace. We don’t see old bodies; sickness; the reality of death.

If I just sit, with all these layers of responses, like veils, one by one, they fall away. These bodies instead become fascinating. It’s a privilege to look so close, to allow my curiosity. I imagine my own body looking this way. Aversion gives way to tenderness, fear becomes gratitude. Something in me relaxes. If I’m lucky, I too will grow old. And for certain, I too will die. And all of this is somehow okay.

Huge thanks to Anastasia Pottinger for allowing me to share her images here with you. To see more images you can go to her Facebook or why not buy the book.