The dance of light and shadow

LESSONS FROM THE DOLOMITES

ALAIN DESVIGNE explores the Dolomites, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. This stunning mountain range in the north-east of Italy is the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 kms across eight Alpine countries: Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.

This series of photographs captures the same mountain over a 24-hour period from a fixed vantage point in Alpi di Siusi, Europe’s highest Alpine meadow in the Dolomites, at over 2,000 meters. The images beautifully reveal the constant play of light and color, as well as the shifting moods of weather across the mountain range.

One of the Dolomites' unique features is the famous alpenglow. Indeed, twice a day, at sunrise and sunset, the mountains turn a pinkish colour, then deep red and finally purple, before disappearing into the darkness of the night. Alpenglow can be explained by the composition of the dolostone, also known as dolomite rock, which contains calcium and magnesium. When the sun's rays hit these two elements at just the right angle, it turns the mountains a beautiful pinkish-red.

At times, the mountain seems completely invisible during a particularly clouded moment, as if it doesn’t exist at all. Yet, those who have witnessed its presence when bathed in light know it’s always there, hidden only by the passing veils of nature. From this, we learn a profound lesson: things are not always as they seem. Rushing to conclusions based on incomplete information can lead to misunderstanding. True insight requires time, patience, and the willingness to observe carefully.

Things are not always as they seem. 
Rushing to conclusions based on incomplete information 
can lead to misunderstanding.
True insight requires time, patience, 
and the willingness to observe carefully.

This series of photographs also beautifully reflects the essence of meditation. While the mountain seems to change with the shifting “weather,” in reality, it remains unchanged.

Our inner landscape evolves constantly, influenced by the fluctuating “meteorological conditions” in our heart space-the subtle emotions, thoughts, and feelings that arise. Each meditation experience is unique, shaped by these internal variations.

Yet, amidst this constant flux, there is an unwavering presence within us—our inner core, our “inner mountain”—which remains still and silent, witnessing it all without being swayed. This stable core, like the mountain beneath the clouds, is the heart within our heart, the foundation of our being, a place that endures through every storm and sunshine.

The teachings of Father Seraphim Rose, a 20th-century Russian Orthodox hieromonk, resonate here. He urged practitioners to “meditate like a mountain,” welcoming all the inner weathers—both the storms and the calm. As he beautifully put it, “To sit like a mountain means to welcome all weather—good and bad, rainstorms, sunshine, and mist. The mountain always has one side bathed in light and another in shadow.”

This imagery reminds us that, like the mountain, we too can remain steady and grounded in the core of our heart, embracing every experience with equanimity and grace.

The lessons of the mountain, then, are not only about observation but also about acceptance—of light and shadow, of joy and difficulty—just as they are.

“To sit like a mountain means to welcome all weather
—good and bad, rainstorms, sunshine, and mist.
The mountain always has one side bathed 
in light and another in shadow.”

To me, the Dolomites can certainly be described as one of the most "spiritual" mountain ranges in Europe. Their breathtaking verticality with cathedral-like spires, dramatic cliffs, and towering rock formations evokes a feeling of humility and reverence as well as a sense of uplifting, much like the soaring architecture of sacred spaces.

Photography by ALAIN DESVIGNE