Gloria

The above words of Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru, are part of an ode that speaks to the interplay of the one and the many. In a magnificent multiverse, lit up by the brilliant, all-pervasive splendour of endless energy, we are invited to bask in the effulgent glow of Omnipresence. Always present yet rarely realized.

Gloria: Latin for “glory” or “glorious,” describes the enchantment for this unfathomable, awe-inspiring cosmos which exists both within us and without. The words ਇਵ ਚਲਤ ਮੋਹੀ – pronounced iv chalat mohi – written in Gurmukhi script in the center of this painting try to convey the veneration I feel for the rhythm and dance of both the manifest and the immanent. The Waheguru – ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ – mantra written all over this painting is a testimonial to that very omnipresence. Nanak singing in a state of enchantment teaches that we’re all creatures of light, at once unique and plural.

Amongst all is Your Light – You are that Light.

By this illumination, that Light is radiant within all.

– Aarti, Guru Granth Sahib, p. 13