The beauty of snowflakes, their hypnotizing silhouettes and their mysterious formation process have made them the center of legends, symbols of purity and accurate proverbs spanning different cultures and philosophies.

One of the most widely spread suppositions about these minute ice crystals is that no two are alike ––assertion that has led scientists and artists to carry out arduous researches, photographing and comparing them for years on end. And although this belief has never been scientifically proven, it is an expression of the unrepeatable quality that defines us as humans and characterizes our universe and the events in our everyday world. There is not a single person, thing or circumstance that is identical to another.

But far from scientific explanations surrounding the formation of these flakes —the direction of the wind, humidity and temperature—, Zen philosophy has found in them a perfect symbol of life and the events that comprise it.