To be..

“The summary of the advice of all prophets is this; Find yourself a mirror” ~ Shams Tabrizi

A man sits in reflection after finishing his prayers in a mosque.

Living requires reflections. Reflections of self. Reflections of that which surrounds us. For how else would we differentiate our being from those who live without a thought. These thoughts have increasingly become a reminder to me over the past many months. Perhaps it’s part of growing older. Or perhaps it is in compulsion, brought on by the events that surround us.

To live in a time when it’s chaotic and loud. When it’s overwhelming, Consuming. When it’s emotional, visceral. our inner voice alone turns to turbulent reflections of the world. It is in times like these that one seeks the quietened solitude. To awaken in the dark of the night, at dawn when the world sleeps, reflecting on finding self, of focus in one’s being. Of finding peace within. To ascertain that, which completes us. The care and attention our “others” deserve. To be beyond our own being. To be a witness to the misery of the world around us. To be a cause for a change within. The pain and suffering that one would otherwise become immune to. Shouldn’t that at minimum, awaken us? How can one keep on ignoring?

A vegetable seller resting in the harsh Peshawar summer.

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you, 
                                    Don’t go back to sleep! 
You must ask for what you really want. 
                                    Don’t go back to sleep! 
                                                             ~ Maulana Jalal ud-Din Rumi

Isn’t it not then the observation of life that brings our thoughts to questioning? For it is at the acceptance of self ignorance when we begin to seek. To question the why and the what? The how and the who?

The calm we seek is always within, The selflessness we desire always within reach. For it is beyond at the stage of questioning, of why and what and the how and the who that one achieves nirvana, in being the source of ease to those “others”, no matter Why. No matter What, no matter Who. With our layers of memories and experiences there to guide us, like the layering of the bark of a tree, protecting its core from what surrounds it. And so, isn’t it obvious? That it’s those memories that become our bark. Formed with experiences of what makes us who we are. Show us love and that’s what we give. Show us the misery and reflections come in play. We must transcend to be better. To achieve the nirvana, to seek ease for others.

I believe that through our photography we can stop wars. We can bring people closer together, and we can make a difference in the world. ~ Sebastiao Salgado

Selling cotton candy to support his children

To see the pain in someone’s eyes should move us. To see the suffering and be reflective, to reach out and to help, to be the source of comfort, if that is not what reflection is about then what is?

Sebastiao Salgado made that possible. From Exodus to Amazonia his photographs have always torn me up. With a discomfort, to acts that we as humans should abhor. It’s now, that I begin to reflect upon my past more often. Remembering, what made me, and how my today shapes my tomorrow. Can we be a source of change? But this, also gives me pause. A pause to accept the world as it is, with a want of what more it could be. With a personality that has always been troubled by chaos seeking order in life has always been in my nature. Arranging subjects in a composition then becomes my need to make sense of it all. But how do I organise the inhumanity? For that is what I witness everyday. The suffering of those holding on to the edges of life? Perhaps the greatest reflection of all is the transcendence from self to the fulfilment of others. For is it not the “Others” who are our mirrored souls?