Last month as part of the Diwali celebrations in work we had a photography competition I was a major driver of the competition and I was a major player in setting up the structure of the competition, developed judging templates, sat as a judge and also had the immense pleasure of presenting the awards too! :)One of the guys on our organizing committee was at loggerheads with me of a severe kind cause he didn't and still does not believe that if one wanted to show the concept of peace or what we called the 'human value of peace' for the competition they could take a serene scenery or a picture of a tree say to show it!I don't know why he couldn't see it but I don't want to go into all of it...I took the higher road I think and felt he should still be a judge cause it was good to have opposing ideas on such a panel. But I stood my ground as also being a judge. He however took that idea to the judging matrix and so as far as I'm concerned all such entries had a major handicap in that judge's eye. Luckily there were three judges and so an almost perfect picture of a water pond/dam in our refinery area surrounded by beautiful Samaan trees was able to cop third prize representing 'Peace'. Had it just been two judges or a third judge who felt differently it may have came first.
The Third Prize winner is at the bottom of the picture:
Now when I was visualizing how the structure of the contest would flow I kept seeing this tree in my head when I thought of peace...I didn't have the picture locked down to location but I had a general idea of it's shape, size and type although in the visualization I never knew what type of tree it was I cleared saw it...and I sometimes visualized me or just an arbitrary human (no identifying features at time) sitting in Yogi position under the tree and usually dressed in white or sometimes just under the tree not necessarily in any Yogi pose. Weeks past and then I had to go to Tobago for the weekend with some friends (it's when I had the Gran Couva chocolate) and that Friday although I was off from work and in Tobago was when the entries for the competition was closing. And so I kept being excited to get back into to work to see how the entries would end up! :) Although I also relished the time for relaxation and the company of friends. And guess what...as I walked into the yard of the home I would be staying in for the weekend...I saw the tree! The said tree...very similar in shape and size...it is only then it occurred to me on the prompting of a friend that the tree was what we call an Almond tree in Trinidad...although it's not the actual almonds that people eats as nuts I think...although the fruit is huge and green and shaped like a big Almond i.e. almond shaped. I don't know much about the details of the fruit of the tree and how it is treated to be honest...but there was the tree! And in saying that it reminds me of something I read when I was 14 or so by J. Krishnamurti bout how man names trees and label things and in doing so gets so caught up in that, we miss the beauty of the thing. So let's not get into the name of the tree and I was glad that in my visualization I never named the tree type as in label it and I myself although come to think of it knew it was 'an Almond tree' never clicked into that until the friend named it...I was just caught up in the tree for being all that it is!
So there was girl and her tree...All weekend long as we sat in the porch looking out...I kept thinking there was the tree! And just as I had visualized it...if someone had told me that could happen or it happened to them I'd think them crazy...even now people can say it is just coincidence and who knows perhaps it is? But it had a huge impact on me! So imagine I did end up spending many hours just lounging with friends looking at this tree! :)Perfect bliss...Satchitananda...Perfect Peace...Harmony...a thing of beauty is a joy forever...and so much more...just me and my tree!
And here is looking at your tree!Pics taken by me and one of friends think was Ian Graham not sure who snapped what...And if it was Ian he knew nothing bout the visualization story as I didn't share that story with him so going to flag him in this writing to let him know now...:
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