What do you do when you start to loose faith in the reality that raised you? When your perspective of the Universe starts to stray from the path you were taught and you see everything in a different way?

Do we hold onto it? Cling to it? Trying to make it work or start letting it go as it starts to sink and fade with the entropy? We all have crises of faith in our lives, and we are taught to believe what believe less we fall into oblivion, or worse.

We find the path that will ultimately lead toward peace of mind, and soul, the path through the storm, and towards the promised land. Some of the steps inspiring, some painful from that which needs to be let go to make space for that new sense of peace.

On the Winter Solstice of 2016, I found myself on a boat floating on the river Ganga (Ganges) in Varanasi preparing to watch the sun rise. As the sun rose over the horizon and the light began to shine on the steps and temples along the bank, thousands of people were descending the stairs to greet the day and their morning rituals and prayers, as they have here for thousands of years.

It was a powerful experience, more than I can speak here, but it moved me enough to do a series of paintings trying to capture that moment. Between the dancing, silence, joy, and beauty of the scene, it all was filled with vast amounts of trash, funeral pyres, and monuments to the soul that were being claimed by the river.

Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir, also know as Kashi Karvat, all translates as Leaning Temple of Varanasi, and it is deidicated to Shiva. It spends most of the time consumed by the river, and only reveals itself for a few months in the summer. It is still used on a regular basis.

Impermanence is real, and must be respected. Cherish what we have, for soon to will be gone. Everything falls back from where it was born.

If we are not careful, it can pull us under as it goes.