"Nowhere are we closer to the sublime secret of all origination than in the recognition of our own selves, whom we always think we know already. Yet we know the immensities of space better than we know our own depths, where even though we do not understand it, we can listen directly to the throb of creation itself." - C. JungA few months ago I began a personal project examining the notion of Self and the ego. Although it started as a means to practice photography and lighting techniques, the process of self observation and inquiry proved to be intruiging and absorbing.
In the Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu wrote that "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is Enlightenment." This self-knowledge requires a great deal of strength because the experience of the Self is always a defeat for the ego - associated with the mind and the sense of time, which compulsively thinks in order to be assured of its future existence, rather than simply knowing its own self and the present.
My ego is filled with desires, cravings and delusions which manifest in strange ways and encourage certain characteristics or behavioural patterns to emerge which form different parts of my personality. Althought this is often unconscious, I have begun the struggle of observing my mind and acting mindfully so that I am gradually becoming aware of when my ego is fighting for attention. This series of photographs is an attempt to capture some of the characteristics of my ego, to acknowledge them and to accept them.
"Instead of waging war on himself it is surely better for a man to learn to tolerate himself, and to convert his inner difficulties into real experience... Then at least he lives, and does not waste his life in fruitless struggles... A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbour; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures."
Listening to: 'Come and Get It' - Louis Jordan
In the Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu wrote that "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is Enlightenment." This self-knowledge requires a great deal of strength because the experience of the Self is always a defeat for the ego - associated with the mind and the sense of time, which compulsively thinks in order to be assured of its future existence, rather than simply knowing its own self and the present.
My ego is filled with desires, cravings and delusions which manifest in strange ways and encourage certain characteristics or behavioural patterns to emerge which form different parts of my personality. Althought this is often unconscious, I have begun the struggle of observing my mind and acting mindfully so that I am gradually becoming aware of when my ego is fighting for attention. This series of photographs is an attempt to capture some of the characteristics of my ego, to acknowledge them and to accept them.
"Instead of waging war on himself it is surely better for a man to learn to tolerate himself, and to convert his inner difficulties into real experience... Then at least he lives, and does not waste his life in fruitless struggles... A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbour; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures."
Listening to: 'Come and Get It' - Louis Jordan
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