Photography by Mikhail Ray

From "Ukraine. The Home" series. Limited edition print 1/12 (+2AP) on Hahnemuehle premium photo paper. Hand signed and numbered. Available in different size/edition: 152 x 152 cm & 80 x 80 cm Digital photo collage. Photography and post production by Mikhail Ray. "Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final" Rainer Maria Rilke Психологи та чеки з Сільпо стверджують, що найцінніше, що в вас є, це ви самі. Тут немає нічого нового, це осучаснена філософія здорового егоїзму та здорового глузду. Але ж тоді виходить так, що на фронті нас захищають здебільшого якісь неправильні нездорові люди. Принаймні ті з них, що пішли в ЗСУ добровільно на початку повномасштабного вторгнення, а ми їм, виходить, безмежно вдячні за їх дитячу наївність. Виходить, що і дітей народжують неправильні несвідомі жінки, які не знають, що мають обирати себе. Виходить, що цивілізація Сільпо приречена, бо ніхто в здоровому глузді її не буде підтримувати та захищати ціною найдорожчого, що є, від варварів, які, схоже, своє життя не дуже то й цінують. Я згоден з тим, що Я, це найдорожче, що в мене є. Тільки спершу треба розібратись, а «Я» це хто чи що? «Я» це моя фізична оболонка чи щось більше за неї? Чи подбати про тіло та подбати про щось більше це одне й те саме? Якщо в цивілізації Сільпо ще є шанси на виживання, то доведеться відкласти свою надважливу суєту на потім та подивитись, нарешті, вгору. Once upon a time, being children, we did not separate ourselves from our mother and the world around us. Once upon a time, we first recognized our reflection in the mirror and, until a certain age, talked about ourselves in the third person. Having felt our isolation, we also felt the fear of survival, because we became a small defenseless grain of sand in a vast hostile desert. Since then, in order to keep our physical body function, we are permanently running in a squirrel wheel, trying to avoid something, and to get or hold on to something. These basic response systems of all living organisms create two types of stress. Scientifically, they are called eustress and distress. The former is most often considered as positive or motivational, but in the long run it is just as harmful as negative. In Buddhism, this process is inscribed in the center of the wheel of Samsara as three emotional obscurations (Kleshas). “Ignorance”, the first of these, is forgetting our true nature, the illusion of our separateness, and the root cause of all suffering. It generates “Aversion” and “Attachment”, they are well known as desire to get or keep something, and to avoid something. It is not surprising that at all times humanity was longing to restore original unity through love, magic and rituals. Carl Jung believed that this is how religion came into being. The Latin word “religare” means "reunification", "restoration". We have already been there, which means we can come back! We can, but, come on, not directly to where we came from. Each of us always has a seed of higher intelligence, ready to sprout as soon as we start watering it. Sometimes it is also called the "Higher" or "True" Self. Its presence becomes obvious when the mind calms down after the body relaxes, the chain of thoughts and emotions stops. In its heat there is no even trace of tension or anything that we could once call ourselves. This inner psychologist is the only one who can free us from all inner conflicts and emotional traumas at a time convenient for us and absolutely free of charge. Being in awareness, being in contact with the original true self, turns everyday life into continuous therapy, a process of gradually letting go stuck emotions and obsolete beliefs. After all, even the best living mental health specialist will not have enough lifetime for this. Meditation in Sanskrit and Tibetan has the same meaning - "Getting used to". To a certain state of consciousness, in order to transfer it to everyday life. Otherwise, practice will remain just a short break from everyday worries and fuss. When we open all the windows of our home, relax our minds on all levels of observation, the feeling of lightness and warmth emerges throughout the body. Gradually, its boundaries blur and we can literally feel its absence, dissolution in the surrounding environment. This state is identical to deep sleep in the fullness of its awareness. Consciousness extends far beyond the contours of the body, and all sensations arising within and outside it are perceived from the same inner source. Now, if you carefully observe any phenomenon that arises in the mind, you will find that it breaks up into many scattered small fragments and disappears. Everything that we relied on in everyday life and considered real, bursts in the void like soap bubbles. This is the time to ask yourself: "Who am I?", "Who or What is aware of this?" and "What remains when everything disappears?". Then no one and nothing can be separate anymore.