Photography

Quite a while ago, I went to visit reverend and one thing that he mentioned that day actually trigger a very careful and thorough thought of mine.

"Photography isn't a good thing to do".

I did not say anything.

I listened all the way and went home to digest this statement he said.

After months, I saw this posting that Jenn made. It's about the conversation between her and reverend.

She asked, "how does one reads as well as letting go at the same time?"

He laughed and replied, "A good mind is a mind that works like a sieve, it is able to retain the things it needed and sieve away the ones it does not need. More importantly, a good mind - is one that is able to remember what it wants to remember and forget what it wants to forget. A photographic memory is not exactly that good to have as many old people suffer at their ending days because of their 'good' memory."

So I make the attempt to link the two plots together, trying a different understanding about the saying of "photography is not a good thing to do".

And then I think I know why reverend defined photography in such a way.

Often our head is filled with memories, just like the snapshots we take with camera. And then over and over they come out to play with our emotions either via some reminding incidents or recalls through looking the pictures.

It is true that the triggered emotions kill. Because whether smiling with tears or having grudge toward pains, we are still overwhelmed by emotions, which generates the feeling of not letting go and eventually end up in suffering.

However, I would quote reverend's word "sieve" in my opinion on valuating photography. We must not let the mind to allow photographic memory to dwell on the pains; rather to take the pictures as medium to tell the truth about life so that the emotions and feelings can flow through the veins without holding back.

Photography does not have to be solely on capturing people, it does not have to be the hook for memory to cling on nor the anchor that sinks all the feelings right to the bottom of our heart. It could be used as a very effective way in the Buddhism path - seeking the truth of life. It is very much like the "detachment" that reverend once told me - we would be able to see more when we are able to see not from our own point of view.

And I realize that both me and reverend are actually looking and defining PHOTOGRAPHY from different angle! He is emphasizing on the impact of photograph on people (suffering) while I am putting photography as way of explaining life so we can learn to detach.

Suddenly I wonder: what would happen if these two thoughts were put together?

It's a great lesson that I've learned from reverend's talk.

Amitabha, sadhu sadhu sadhu!

caption: taken during the Buddhism Charity Dinner
(what do you see in this photo?)