8×10 inch monochrome bird’s-eye shot of a lotus receptacle.

For me, ashes or black things has an image of eternity. It does not decompose naturally.
Also this gathered lotus receptacle looks very similar to mandala*.
In Buddhism it is believed that consciousness, the spirit, continues after death and reborn.
Other religion also has many stories of life after death.

I am an agnostic, and I feel every people has their own belief in death and eternity.
And it is true that unidentifiable world makes us feel anxious.
To reveal the mysterious unidentifiable things, our ancestors created systematic faith called religion.
And this shall be passed down as collective unconsciousness.

So then, what is eternity?
Art is like a metaphor of faith that everyone can see and feel, and moreover enables us to think.
What we think and experience will carry on, and that is how I define eternity.
And I shall keep seeking the answer for this query by photograph.

*mandala:
A geometric way of expressing the world of deities as art visualizing the precept of Buddhism.
Many deities are drawn inside a mandala.
Carl Gustav Jung realized that there are similar patterns and mythologies close to mandala around the world, thinking there may be a common collective unconscious in all mankind.