Ladakh Meditation, A New Look

Orange Door, Chemray Gompa, Ladakh, 2008

I have not spent much time on this blog regarding my adventures in Ladakh, nor have I given an update on how Thupten and his family are doing after the flood. I intend to bring regular updates here on this site starting today.

Thupten, Tenzin Angmo, Lhamo, and Me in Ladakh, 2008

These three people are my adopted family. Lisa and I have supported Tenzin's education from grade one. I was fortunate enough to spend three weeks with them in their home in the Himalayan mountains in the summer of 2008.

In 2010 a devastating flood washed through their lovely mud-brick home, and washed away everything they owned. The flood waters almost claimed their lives. Dozens of their neighbors were washed away, and buried under the massive wall of boulders and mud.

I will, over the course of time, relate the story of my trip there, but for now I just want to share some of the images that I created while I was there. I will again offer some of these for sale as a fund raising enterprise to help them with the building of their new home. Please see my postings from 2010 about the flood at: http://thomasbethune.blogspot.com/2010/08/print-sale-for-ladakh-releif.html

 I am reworking some of the photographs from my Ladakh series. The photograph at the top of this posting is an example of the work that I did at the many gompas (monasteries) that I visited with Thupten. Many of the photographs I took were of doorways. I suppose there is some symbolism about entering into sacred space, and the passage to Spirit, and I will allow the viewer to interpret what ever they sense.

The Site Of Thupten's Washed Away Home, 2010