If we seek enlightenment, we must commit jihad—a holy war.
No man is a great warrior if he has not conquered himself. Hence, the great jihad has always been an internal holy war, not an external one. It’s your higher man’s struggle against your lower man’s uncontrolled desires and passions.
But modern fundamentalist Muslims are tricked by the devil into believing that jihad is a purely militaristic action for the faith.
It’s much easier to convince young men and women that taking another human life leads to paradise than to convince them that they must annihilate their pride, lust, selfishness, and uncontrolled passions if they want to glimpse paradise.
False courage is blowing yourself up to kill others for the faith. True courage is annihilating your ego, your pride, and your lust even at the cost of your life. The latter is a sign of a great warrior in the making.
‘Annihilation’
This internal spiritual struggle of jihad is the very essence of my painting, ‘Annihilation’, part of my collection on transcending the ego.
The artwork depicts Lady Wisdom, portrayed with her blade and wearing a haora shawl, cutting off the head of an individual on her table.
Lady Wisdom is seated and gazing directly outward with a calm yet piercing expression. She’s adorned with a maang tika. Her Haora shawl is wrapped around her shoulders and head.
Lady Wisdom’s face, illuminated by the light of truth, is gentle yet focused.
(For a detailed breakdown of the significance of the maang tika and Haora shawl, see ‘Annihilation and transcendence’ where I explain the symbols and motifs from the first painting of this collection.)
Breaking down the painting
In her right hand, Lady Wisdom holds the knife of discernment with its blade angled downward against the table. She grips the knife handle steadily as she’s in the process of cutting the head (ego) of an individual. Though she has performed this act countless times, her intent never falters. On her left hand is a golden ring symbolizing her eternal commitment to guiding all those on the path of jihad.
The knife symbolizes the paradox of unity in duality. A knife relies on the convergence of two opposing sides. The sharpness of the blade — its ability to cut — is only found at the meeting point of the two sides. The sharpness is only maintained so long as the two are in constant unity, representing how true wisdom harmonizes opposites to cut through the ego.
On the top shelf sit two skulls. The skulls serve as memento mori, to remember our death. And secondly, it’s a call to die before you die.
The two skulls represent the call for both men and women and they point to the unity of the masculine and the feminine within the self after annihilation.
On the middle shelf sits a collection of books. The books are a collection of ancient wisdom from Christianity, Dharmic religions, and Islam. All of them call their readers to attain wisdom, practice contemplation, and seek unity with the One.
A peacock feather is found in the middle of the shelf.
Ancient Greeks believed that peacock flesh didn’t decay after death. This led to the association between the peacock and immortality and incorruptibility.
Early Christians then adopted this motif by depicting peacocks on tombs and in catacombs as symbols of eternal life and resurrection. They associated the eye-like pattern on peacock feathers with God’s omniscience.
Here a peacock feather is found in the middle of the books, specifically in the middle of ‘Crest-Jewel of Discrimination’ by Adi Shankara, as a reminder to find moksha (liberation) from samsara (cycle of death and rebirth) through wisdom.
On the bottom shelf is a conch shell. The conch shell in Hinduism represents the primordial sound of creation, closely related to OM. Lord Vishnu is often seen holding a conch called Panchajanya which symbolizes the emergence of life.
In the Buddhist tradition, the conch shell is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols in iconography. It stands for the Buddha’s call to all beings to awake from ignorance and follow wisdom.
The single conch on the bottom shelf is the intial call to awaken from ignorance. Once we begin to wake up, we proceed to seek wisdom (middle shelf). And finally, through discipline of action taught in the wisdom literature, we can kill the ego and ascend to the top shelf and out the window on her left to the Eternal Garden.
The Eternal Garden is a scene bathed in soft, golden light. The sky transitions from a warm golden-yelllow to a cooler blue higher up.
The sunlight illuminates a row of three trees in the distance. Just as the three smaller gemstones on the maang tika represent the Godhead, so too do the three trees in paradise.
The only condition for entering the Eternal Garden is committing jihad. Are you willing to wage the internal jihad?
This original painting is available for purchase.
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