Trinity - Creator, Destructor and the lovely Preserver

A friend of mine looked at this photo and instantly reacted, “was this intentional?” I smiled and said “you bet.”

A picture says thousand words, and I intended to do exactly that. I wanted to combine two opposing forces, two entirely different faces of humanity in a pictorial representation.

The background has Lord Buddha, a patron of non-violence, the enlightened one. On the other hand, I am wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. Che Guevara, a Marxist revolutionary and a guerrilla leader.

This picture represents two iconic extremes. Two choices, I would say! Whom should we idolize? Is the pace of life today apt enough to follow the path of patience, non violence and truth patronized by Buddha? Buddha believed in inner awakening among individuals. Peace that comes from within and then spread along benefiting the society in turn.

What would have Che achieved if he followed Buddha’s ideology? He took a year off from studies to embark on a trip traversing South America by motorcycle with one of his friends. On this trip he was struck by the crushing poverty of the remote rural areas. The exploitation by rich landlords was ever present. The exposure to poverty, hunger and disease forced Guevara to believe that in order to "help these people", he needed to leave the realm of medicine, and consider the political arena of armed struggle.

Was he justified in choosing armed struggle as the means? Or was their any other way out?

I don’t have answers to these questions. But whom do I idolize? Afcourse I am wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt (symbolically a red one). Doesn’t that answer the question? If so, what am I doing in a monastery then?

Well, there’s a third face in the picture and it’s the one whom I idolize. It’s the one whom I believe, I love. He does not keep any percepts, he does not break any percepts. He is the one who believes that there is a Buddha inside each one of us and the quantum of awareness of this Buddha is the breeder of personalities. THAT FACE IS ME.