Seeing Miksang

      "To see a world in a grain of sand
     And a heaven in a wild flower,
     Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
     And eternity in an hour." (William Blake)

This just in from my favorite artist blogger, Robert Genn:  “A traditional art form has been greatly facilitated by the advent of the digital camera. The art of Miksang was begun as a meditational tool by Shambhala Buddhists, but it has implications for painters and other creative people. The idea is to find joy and awareness by attending to the minor and seemingly insignificant--the colours, patterns and textures that exist in the close-up world. Miksang is a Tibetan word that means "good eye." Shambhalas think widespread use might lead to more compassionate and enlightened societies.”

Last December when I took a digital collage class from Bob Masla in a small Mexican village, I discovered a new way to think about photography. Rather than compose photos, I could look at everything as an “element” that might be used in a collage.  It opened up a new way of thinking and increased the number of photos I took by a factor of 10 … at least.  I was delighted to discover that this way of looking at the world has a name and an official place in the spiritual world.

Comments

[dblacker]

Enjoyed your post on Miksang. Thought you might want to check out this video on the practice:

Miksang Photography on My Creative Intent.com:

http://www.mycreativeintent.com/group/meditation/forum/topic/show?id=2105360%3ATopic%3A1611

Best,

David

[mere]

I love your site. I am a fan of N. Goldberg too. I have read Down to the Bones several times. Having said that, I feel you'll find delight in www.oddpodz.com

[Tom Tiernan]

Hi Joyce

I am a digital photographer also. My company specializes in using photographs to transform conversations. When I got involved with this way of communicating I had to learn to photograph in a different way. Instead of trying to take pictures which would stand on their own, I had to learn how to see how seemingly unrelated elements would fit into a larger picture or more precisely into many larger pictures, because everyone sees things differently.

This is a great way to look at anything from team-building to personal growth or just a way to have fun.

I should have known the Buddhists had already thought of this a thousand years before. :>)

Tom Tiernan
VisualsSpeak LLC