The Diamond Sutra
Thus shall ye think
of this fleeting world
A star at dawn,
a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning
in a summer cloud; 
a flickering lamp,
a phantom,
and a dream.
STATEMENT:
Alternative translation:
Like a falling star, like a bubble in a stream,
Like a flame in the wind, like frost in the sun,
Like a flash of lightning or a passing dream —
So should you understand the world of the ego.
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These words are an excerpt from the namesake of the series, the ancient and sacred Buddhist text, The Diamond Sutra (The full original Sanskrit title is ‘Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita-sutra’). Also known as ‘The Diamond of Transcendent Wisdom’, this Sutra is an exquisite reverie on permanence and transcendence given in a sermon by the Buddha to his devotees. The teaching urges them to ‘cut (like a diamond) through the illusions of reality that surround them’, and offers that the names, concepts, ideas given to all things, both ‘real’ and abstract, are mere constructs of the mind, layers of illusion, masking a sole underpinning, enduring, timeless reality or truth. The Buddha’s teaching is intended to cut like a diamond blade through worldly illusion and to illuminate what is true and everlasting.
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This series is intended as an echo of the Diamond Sutra and a meditation on the the reality of things – the nature of reality. There is an underlying factor to beauty, an intangible truth; and a signpost. John Keats once penned the words “ ’Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. Yes, there is beauty in the images, however they exist as exquisite layers of illusion masking reality (the real beauty) an ultimate truth. Contemplation of these images is intended to bring awareness of and consciousness to the onlooker of the possibility of another reality. This reality that involves unlearning and a letting go of names, concepts, ideas… A reality without layers. A reality beyond beauty; one where a single truth exists. One of Oneness.