Says Geeta, “In Jogia Dhoop, I have picked up some of these pearls of Mohd. Hazrat Mohani, Baba Bulleh Shah,
Hazrat Shah Niaz, Hazrat Zaheen Shah Taaji, Baba Farid and Rumi as the inspiring force. For example some of the thoughts born
of Baba Bulleh Shah has such an intense and immense depth and beauty that it strikes a chord. It emerges from the same base
as of a true Zen master or a singing shepherd of the hills who has only innocence to offer in his prayers.
The
treatment is delicately graded . The succession of hues, one dissolving into another suggests the Kalam resounding, appearing
and fading into space. In these paintings, calligraphy is imprinted as a murmur.
Jogia Dhoop –
the saffron sunshine – a sunshine of discovery, of joy – is a celebration of the Sufi movement as much as an exhibition
of paintings.
”
JOGIA DHOOP
March, 2004
A series
of Calligraphed paintings
Based on Sufiana Kalam GEETA VADHERA
JOGIA DHOOP copyright © 2004
- Geeta Vadhera – geetavadhera@hotmail.com
Sufiana Kalam – The words of the Sufi sages- Simple words
- for everyone to understand. There isn’t any pretension here – these words come direct from one heart and
invite you to take a leap from the circumference to your very center – your core being. The circumference (The
capacity) and the center (is the essential start point) between the outer and inner world, between mind and no mind,
between matter and consciousness. This bridge between the two is the basic value system that emerges from within. The
self could be enclosed, encapsulated, till we experience, explore or come out , giving life to life.
Getting
close to the basic satya of consciousness and then it takes off from there, it happens-it’s the Joy of Baba Bulleh Shah,
the profoundness of Hillaj Mansoor- the simplicity of Baba Farid. Not living like walking graves but most meaningfully
existing is to be next to life. The whole joy is to identify – and experience the transparency within. Concentration
illuminates illusions and the true nature of reality appears , emerges which is the ultimate experience of
profoundness.
Their poetry the Sufiana kalam be it in Urdu, Punjabi,Hindi, Sindhi or Saraiki it has layers and layers of pealing.
The pealing off – process of the very self (JO KUJ ANDAR TAINDA O SAB TAA DE ) – empty out your self as
much
as you can. This understanding could be easy to a child and difficult to a sage..
There is no temple
other than existence itself first. Whole is what is holy, and this whole journey is like back home. From the point to the
point. Its sublime- Its not a journey from here to there but on the contrary it is from there to here. We are invited to
go from “Then” to “Now” – where there is a meeting of moment to the soul. Beyond the physical
surface or the objective information, lies the Real , the transformation which clearly defines that the knower is bigger
than the knowledge . knowledge is the first contact. It can explain, analyse Christianity , Hinduism , Buddhism But
it can not produce a Buddha or a Jesus.
Wisdom is not knowledge but it is the Insight the clarity, the basic
value system which brings profoundness. To Know is to know all. To Know is to Be because then the knower and the known
are no longer separate. The knower is the known the seer is the seen the observer is the observed. The Arabic word ‘Nafs’
means total freed self, Sufi self and it also means a pure basic breath which is such a basic truth. Beyond physical
reality and physical time and space there is this all-encompassing self or the greater self, which is inseparable from
cognition. I seemed to stand outside of my limited self. Moving backwards, forwards and experiencing entirety within.
In
Jogia Dhoop, I have picked up some of these pearls of Mohd. Hazrat Mohani , Baba Bulleh shah, Hazrat Shah Niaz, Hazrat Zaheen
shah Taaji, Baba Farid and Rumi as the inspiring force. For example some of the thoughts born of Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1757)
The 17th century legend born in Kasur (now a part of Pakistan) has such an intense and immense depth and beauty that
it strikes a chord. It emerges from the same base as of a true Zen master or a singing shepherd of the hills who has only
innocence to offer in his prayers.
A search for this innocence, this silence is the source of the flowing
music in my works- created in multiple tones of lilac, grey or dusky dusty siennas fading in time. Sometimes a spread
of movement inspired by the Raag Vistaar of (Indian music) or a small couplet, a bandish of a ghazal – the flow
of tones into space is behind the visual experience of the paintings. The treatment is delicately graded . The succession
of hues, one dissolving into an other suggests the Kalam resounding appearing and fading into space. The potential of
the oils and the fluid transparency is a medium handled closely enough to the selected mood of the works.In these paintings,
calligraphy is imprinted as a murmur . the sound-resounds. Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), speaking of a spiritual encounter
with Rembrandt,says, “It moved me deeply , The flow of colour has dark and dissolve approach which has effect
of antiphony (Purely musical term) It evokes the sound within me.” JOGIA DHOOPI rejoice and dedicate this series of
Sufi works to those pure movements which created these paintings.
copyright © 2004 - Geeta Vadhera –
geetavadhera@hotmail.com
