Mindful Photos Sunday Reflection: Does the taking of certain types of photograph contradict Buddhist or Mindful ethics? Any introductory book on Buddhism would be likely to mention the Five Precepts. They're ethical guidelines designed to help us avoid harming, and to create conditions helpful to the arising of wisdom. At number two is "not taking that which is not given"... Continue Reading →
Shadows of selves
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal... Continue Reading →
At the top of the first chapter of meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg's book Loving Kindness are two words - "only connect". Taken from the epitaph of E. M. Forster's famous novel Howards End, they sum up just what mindfulness practice and Loving Kindness are all about. It's also what any half decent photographer tries to do as well, but I often... Continue Reading →
Day one of any good Buddhism course would probably mention the five precepts: a list of guidelines to help us stay on the ethical straight and narrow. Second only to not killing is not taking that which is not given.....This poses a big dilemma for me as a "mindful" photographer. When we squeeze the shutter to capture an unmissable (aren't they always?) candid picture, are... Continue Reading →