Cosmic Union
In Buddhism, portrayals of the union of male and female deities show the
cosmic merging of the masculine-feminine, which in truth are never separate—yin/yang,
shakti/shiva. The universe is forever created, sustained and dissolved
through their eternal union in ecstatic bliss. The central image is a
magazine photograph of a sculpture of a couple joined in love. They are
haloed by a ring of cosmic dust resulting from a supernova explosion,
bursting with moons and a white lily that sends off a shower of stars.
Their couch is a swirling galaxy on a bed of flowers. Rising along the
side, like energy rising up through the chakra centers along the spine,
are a series of cosmic images the couple gives birth to: the Eagle nebula
at the bottom; a trailing remnant of the Vela supernova; the Pleiades;
the Trifid nebula; and the Andromeda galaxy.