Lyudmila Movhcna

Lyudmila Movchan

Soul. The way home

This exhibition is a series of paintings dedicated to verses from the Bhagavad-gita ("Song of God"). The Bhagavad-gita is the quintessence of the spiritual wisdom of Vedic literature, one of the greatest philosophical and poetic works, as well as one of the main sacred books of the world.

His Divine Grace A.Ch. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the author of the book "The Bhagavad Gita As It Is," says that it is intended for conditioned souls who have come to the material world to dominate material nature and are unaware of true spiritual life. The Bhagavad-gita is meant to show how man can realize his spiritual being and his eternal relationship with the supreme spiritual personality; it points the way back home, back to the Godhead.

This project aims to allow a person to touch the most secret knowledge in mankind's history and eliminate the problems of material existence, such as birth, aging, illnesses, and death. After all, these problems cannot be solved through economic development and wealth accumulation. There are countries with favorable living conditions, high living standards, and economic development in many parts of the world. However, problems related to material existence remain there.

"Love for God is lying dormant in everyone's heart now. And in each person, this love, now contaminated by material ties, manifests itself differently. It is necessary to purify the heart from material communication, and then the hidden natural love for the Lord will be reborn!"
Bhagavad-gita, 12

BIO

I was born in 1986 in Obukhiv, near Kyiv, where I live.

I have been fond of beautiful photography since childhood, but I didn't consider myself a creative person. That is why, in 2008 I graduated from the university with a major in international economy.

After a couple of years of searching for myself, I increasingly realized that I was not where I was meant to be and decided to realize my childhood dream. I turned my life around 180° and went to study photography. Therefore, my love for creativity came through photography. I take photos only of people, their emotions and feelings. And the most valuable thing in photography for me is sincerity!

Another aspect of my creativity is painting, which burst into my life in 2016. And here everything manifests itself in a completely different way. In paintings, I depict what I cannot convey through the lens of my camera!

2022 - the personal exhibition "Borders and Trust" at the House of Ukrainian Culture in Zhytomyr. Today, the paintings are in the private collections of European and Ukrainian art connoisseurs.
2021, July - the personal exhibition "Borders and Trust" held at Lika Spivakovskaya ART: EGO Gallery.
2021 - a participant in the group exhibition "Living Planet".
2021 - "Italy ART FESTIVAL 2021", received the Grand prix.
Since 2020 - a participant in more than 20 Ukrainian and international competitions and festivals, where I took first places.
2018 - a personal exhibition "The Energy of Peace".

Today, the paintings are in the private collections of European and Ukrainian art connoisseurs.

You are the original Personality of Godhead, the oldest, the ultimate sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You are the knower of everything, and You are all that is knowable. You are the supreme refuge, above the material modes. O limitless form! This whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by You! Bhagavad-gītā, 11. 38

oil on canvas
100 х 100 cm
2024

Everything is resting on the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore He is the ultimate rest. He is the knower of everything that is happening in this world, and if knowledge has any end, He is the end of all knowledge; therefore He is the known and the knowable. He is the object of knowledge because He is all-pervading.
Bhagavad-gītā, 11. 38, purport.

The Lord is being paid obeisances in all respects. He is of immeasurable greatness. No one can be greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, because no one is equal to or higher than Kṛṣṇa within any manifestation, spiritual or material. Everyone is below Him. No one can excel Him.
Bhagavad-gītā, 11. 43, purport.

To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. Bhagavad-gītā, 10.11

oil on canvas
100 х 120 cm
2024

Due to the contamination of material association, through many, many millions of births, one’s heart is always covered with the dust of materialism, but when one engages in devotional service and constantly chants Hare Kṛṣṇa.

The pure devotee does not have to worry about the material necessities of life; he need not be anxious, because when he removes the darkness from his heart, everything is provided automatically by the Supreme Lord.
Bhagavad-gītā, 10.11, purport

The person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation. Bhagavad-gītā, 2.15

oil, gold leaf on canvas
100 х 120 cm
2024

O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must.
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.14

Life will constantly test us - how real we are.
It will throw us on the very crest of success and look: how has it affected you? You have the ability to influence. You have power. You have force. You have money. You have loved ones. You have everything. What kind of a person are you now?

Then it will throw us off this illusory peak, as it seems to us, and will certainly plunge us into trials. And now everything is falling out of your hands, you are confused, you don't know how to proceed. And what kind of a person are you now? What will you do?

Then it will throw you up and drop again, throw up and drop again. Winter and summer replace each other, happiness and unhappiness alternate.

What is the real you in the middle of it all? What do you feel in happiness - pride? What do you perceive in suffering - sadness? Maybe thanks or wisdom? Or maybe you feel patience? Or maybe humility? How should you go through all this growing your consciousness?
Maryna Targakova

Oh best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.15

Here, happiness and sorrow are put on the same level. And indeed, it is surprising that sometimes happiness itself makes a person worse, and grief can make a person better. And sometimes vice versa. Therefore, the most important thing is not the events of life, but what we have become as a result of these events.

As Oleksandr Hakimov says: "Life is given not to get any pleasure, not to go through some events, but to get impressions from these events that will transform our consciousness."
Maryna Targakova

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. Bhagavad-gītā,2.20

oil, gold leaf on canvas
70 х 100 cm
2020

The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother’s body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing and primeval – that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul.
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.20, commentary.

Temporary is something that constantly alternates, ends and thereby causes us pain.
Eternity is what creates, inspires, beckons, and it is the nature of our soul.
Maryna Targakova

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. Bhagavad-gītā, 2.22

oil on canvas
90 х 120 cm
2021

As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
Bhagavad-gītā,2.13

Since every living entity is an individual soul, each is changing his body every moment, manifesting sometimes as a child, sometimes as a youth and sometimes as an old man. Yet the same spirit soul is there and does not undergo any change. This individual soul finally changes the body at death and transmigrates to another body; and since it is sure to have another body in the next birth – either material or spiritual.
Bhagavad-gītā,2.13, purport.

As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.22

Transference of the atomic individual soul to another body is made possible by the grace of the Supersoul. The Supersoul fulfills the desire of the atomic soul as one friend fulfills the desire of another. The Vedas, like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, as well as the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, compare the soul and the Supersoul to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other bird (Kṛṣṇa) is simply watching His friend. Of these two birds – although they are the same in quality – one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend. Although they are friends, one is still the master and the other is the servant. Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of one’s changing his position from one tree to another, or from one body to another. The jīva soul is struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme
spiritual master – as Arjuna agreed to do by voluntary surrender unto Kṛṣṇa for instruction – the subordinate bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations.
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.22, purport

A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires. Bhagavad-gītā, 2.70

oil, gold leaf on canvas
90 х 120 cm
2021

Although the vast ocean is always filled with water, it is always, especially during the rainy season, being filled with much more water. But the ocean remains the same – steady; it is not agitated, nor does it cross beyond the limit of its brink. That is also true of a person fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As long as one has the material body, the demands of the body for sense gratification will continue. The devotee, however, is not disturbed by such desires, because of his fullness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious man is not in need of anything, because the Lord fulfills all his material necessities. Therefore he is like the ocean – always full in himself. Desires may come to him like the waters of the rivers that flow into the ocean, but he is steady in his activities, and he is not even slightly disturbed by desires for sense gratification
Bhagavad-gītā, 2.70, purport.

Without knowing that one’s self-interest is in Viṣṇu (or Kṛṣṇa), conditioned souls are attracted by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such situations. In such a blind conception of life, they forget even the causes of material happiness. Bhagavad-gītā, 1.31, purport

oil, gold leaf on canvas
100 х 120 cm
2021

I will hug you in silence until we become one... the Lord

oil, gold leaf on canvas
90 х 120 cm
2021

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
Bhagavad-gītā, 18.65

"I will hug you in silence until we become one...

Remember me when nothing bothers you: neither sickness, nor hunger, nor war, nor fear.
Remember Me when you feel good, happy and calm.

Purify our connection with daily prayer. Talk to Me, turn to Me as you can. I don't need special secret mantras, secret syllables and long hymns. I long for tears of devotion, I long for a simple heart, I long for a humble call, I seek my child who was lost and found.

The world is full of learned writers and Vedic scholars, teachers and eloquent orators, but not their haughty speeches I want to hear, but I want to see one tear of pure devotion flowing down your cheek. One such tear speaks of a new birth - the birth of My child. I am the God of gods, I am the Father of the Universe and for one such tear I am ready to destroy billions of demons and remove all obstacles from your path - because My child is coming home.

Nothing will bother or embarrass my child from now on. I will personally monitor him and his development and accompany him to his designated abode when the time is right.

Every word you utter, addressed to Me, I will listen with attention and emotion. Do not think that I do not hear your prayers. I hear every word.

Pray to Me right now, don't delay. I am waiting for your birth. Remember, I can do everything, but I leave devotion and love up to you."
Your Lord

Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world. Bhagavad-gītā, 3.37, purport

oil, gold leaf on canvas
70 х 100 cm
2020

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.
Bhagavad-gītā, 3.37

Lust is the desire to get pleasure for yourself, regardless of how this world is arranged. Why is the Lord here? This is what my senses want and I want to get it. Losing all sense.
Desire never stops. In a strange way, once I want something for myself, I want to enjoy it, I want to control it, I want it to be mine. If it doesn't work, I get angry. But if I succeed, I get greedy and insatiable, and at the same moment I want something else.
Maryna Targakova

Then again, when lust is unsatisfied, it turns into wrath; wrath is transformed into illusion, and illusion continues the material existence. Therefore, lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which induces the pure living entity to remain entangled in the material world.
If, therefore, lust is transformed into love for the Supreme, or transformed into Kṛṣṇa consciousness – or, in other words, desiring everything for Kṛṣṇa – then both lust and wrath can be spiritualised.
Bhagavad-gītā, 3.37, purport

Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me. Bhagavad-gītā, 9.60

oil on canvas
70 х 100 cm
2020

God has given independence to everyone. Bhagavad-gītā, 7.21, purport

oil on canvas
60 х 80 cm
2020

I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity.
Bhagavad-gītā, 7.21

God has given independence to everyone; therefore, if a person desires to have material enjoyment and wants very sincerely to have such facilities from the material demigods, the Supreme Lord, as Supersoul in everyone’s heart, understands and gives facilities to such persons. As the supreme father of all living entities, He does not interfere with their independence, but gives all facilities so that they can fulfil their material desires. Some may ask why the all-powerful God gives facilities to the living entities for enjoying this material world and so lets them fall into the trap of the illusory energy. The answer is that if the Supreme Lord as Supersoul does not give such facilities, then there is no meaning to independence. Therefore, He gives everyone full independence – whatever one likes – but His ultimate instruction we find in the Bhagavad-gītā one should give up all other engagements and fully surrender unto Him. That will make man happy.
Bhagavad-gītā, 7.21, purport

The soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul. Bhagavad-gītā , 9.2, purport

oil on canvas
100 х 120 cm
2021

As far as ordinary education is concerned, people are involved with so many departments: politics, sociology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, etc. There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.
This body is perishable and that the soul is not perishable.
Bhagavad-gītā, 9.2, purport

Lyudmila Movchan

Soul. The way home

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