I often photograph the mundane, found images in nature that, of themselves, are nothing special. I look for images that represent the ordinary and capture them in ways that make the ordinary open to investigation. Take the simple goldenrod blossoms in this post. Goldenrod is a ubiquitous plant that comes to life in late Summer and early Fall gracing the meadows in which it flourishes with a carpet of yellowish golden colors that one cannot help but be impressed.
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Learning how to live in the moment, in that immeasurably short instant of time, the time that is timeless, is a step in the direction of stripping one of ego, of replacing one’s self as separated essence with the unity of the infinite. It is in these moments that one is awakened to one’s response-ability for the other. One day as a Zen Master stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, “Sir, why do you not enter?” The Master replied, “I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?” A few short months ago this milkweed plant was blooming, displaying aromatic violet buds, attracting monarch butterflies and bees. In a few short weeks from now the pods will open and seeds will be spread by the wind some of which will become new milkweed plants. But now the milkweed pods are maturing, growing seeds that are soon to be released. Can one choose a time when the milkweed is better than any other time? I think not. Each stage presents new challenges and new opportunities but in point of fact, each stage simply is. Stop and smell the roses, take in the flowers, the colors, the scents. Rushing around with no place to go takes one away from the very moment of existence, from the only existential encounter with the infinite that one can have in this life, and buries one in the traces of the past or the burdens of the future. One does not live in the trace, although the trace does open doors to awareness when it informs the moment. Perhaps as one should see the sound one must also hear the colors. When the colors sing to you have you heard the colors? Is the metaphor correct? All perception occurs during the infinitely small, borderless moment of existence, in existential time. In that moment everything is one and one is all. Color is sound and sound is color. Touch is empty and emptiness pounds like a hammer. And then it is gone. All that remains is a trace that we often call memory but it is, in fact, the story of existence we tell ourselves so that we can make sense of the temporal universe in which we find ourselves. The act of hearing the colors and seeing the sound stands outside of the temporal experience. It takes place in the infinity of the moment, the instant that is always already present and always already a trace. The blink of an eye is longer than the moment of existence, the existential moment that is infinitely small, unable to be measured, and constantly replaced. Yet the lived experience is bounded by a finite period of time, an infinite number of existential moments bounded by two infinities where time no longer is important even if time exists. The blink of an eye interrupts the seeing of the moment when awake, an interruption that disrupts the moment, a measured period of time that replaces that which is experienced visually with something other. The alterity of the blink of an eye is, in this sense, a simulacrum of the Radically or Absolute Other. When I was in graduate school I learned the definition of an expert as one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing. I also discovered a statement that I turned into a t-shirt that I wore out during my studies, “If you are not confused your aren’t trying hard enough!” Both of these ideas are reflected in the Zen Commentary that opens this post. Knowledge is elusive, the more one discovers the more questions are laid at one’s feet that require even more inquiry. The search for knowledge never ends, the evaluation of evidence to answer current questions never ends, the desire to know never ends. Everyday life is the path. This is something akin to the Jewish notion of practice as opposed to faith. Doing that which is right and proper, following the rules, in short, acting when action is required and abstaining from action when to do is out of place. Being in the world requires that one be a part of and not apart from this world. Being in the world is a solitary social endeavor. One acts alone for the benefit of the other as a social being. Even when acting as a part of a group one, in the final analysis, is acting alone but solitary action without the social connection is nothing more than the feeding of one’s ego. Acting from the ethical requirement to be of service to others requires that one act face to face with the other one is sacrificing for. Everyday life sounds so trite, so banal that the wisdom is often ignored or overlooked. Everyday life is the ability to be in the world.
Natchez Trace ~ Fall 2009 Running from Nashville to Natchez Mississippi, the Natchez Trace Parkway preserves an ancient trail used by both animals and native people for thousands of years. This bridge is located near Franklin Tennessee on the Trace. Why do I make art? I believe the answer to this question lies somewhere in [...] |
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