Heaven’s Gate
2025
During this month-long journey in Nepal, I had no plan and no destination. I simply let fate take me to certain places, including those I never expected to confront.
By chance, I found myself standing beside a cremation ceremony by the river. The family guided me closer, close enough to see the texture of the cloth covering the face and to hear the quiet breath of the prayers. It was the first time death appeared so vividly before me, yet it stirred far less emotion than I had imagined.
After leaving the flames, I kept walking through the streets. Strangers smiled at me, greeted me, and invited me into their everyday lives.
“Heaven’s Gate” is the doorway that leads to the cremation ground. On one side, people say goodbye; on the other, life continues to unfold. Life and death are only different stages of the same existence, and geography or culture are just external forms. Wherever we are, whether we are leaving or continuing, the essence of life remains unchanged. On both sides of the gate, there is a heaven of its own.
