Insight

"I design the landscape and garden for the monastery. Working with plants and nature has become my spiritual practice. Pour your love and devotion into whatever you do. To do so will make your heart feel good and, like a garden, you will grow to be beautiful and healthy. "
Gun Tee Sumboon

*This mudra or hand position is designed to raise the vibratory level of the individual and deepen the meditative state. "Insight" refers to a type of meditative practice that brings one to inner revelations..

The woman pictured in this photograph is a Theravedic Buddhist Mai Chi (nun) from Thailand. I photographed her while she stood in meditation with her fingers in a mudra posture called "chi mudra." This mudra circulates the energy in the body in such a way as to deepen the meditative state. The background seen in the print is a dappled sky and bushes. My assistant and translator held the mirror and tipped it back forth as I photographed into it.

After the shoot and before I could finish thanking her, she bowed her head and closed her eyes. My interpreter motioned for me to do the same until the Mai Chi had finished with the blessing. I pressed my palms together and listened to her low voice whispering into her fingertips. Suddenly, she grabbed me hard and shook me back and forth with all her might. He eyes were wide with fury as she yelled at me. Her hand chased the air as if to shoo flies away from around me. Then, just as quickly as it began, she resumed her blessing and her voice returned to sounding low and hushed. After a while she opened her eyes and smiled.

"What was that all about?" I asked my assistant. He responded, "I can't tell you what she said because she was speaking in the language of the angels, the language before any language." Then I asked the Mai Chi what she said. She told me, "I don't know what I said because I wasn't there. Either I feel the presence of the great spirit and allow it to come through or I don't. Today, you are very lucky because you and your work have been blessed by the great spirit."

I was honored to have been blessed by a great spirit and did in fact feel lucky that day. However it wasn't until I got home and developed the film I had shot, that I really began to wonder about what happened.

In my 20 years experience as a photographer, it was the first time I couldn't find a technical explanation for what I found on her film. The clouds that streak the sky are clearly visible through her robes. It was as if she became translucent from the waist down! It should be optically impossible to photograph anything that is directly behind the subject with or without the use of mirrors.



		INSIGHT Theravedic Buddhist Mai Chi Thailand, 1994 "I design the landscape and garden for the monastery. Working with plants and nature has become my spiritual practice. Pour your love and devotion into whatever you do. To do so will make your heart feel good and, like a garden, you will grow to be beautiful and healthy. " Gun Tee Sumboon *This mudra or hand position is designed to raise the vibratory level of the individual and deepen the meditative state. "Insight" refers to a type of meditative practice that brings one to inner revelations.. The woman pictured in this photograph is a Theravedic Buddhist Mai Chi (nun) from Thailand. I photographed her while she stood in meditation with her fingers in a mudra posture called "chi mudra." This mudra circulates the energy in the body in such a way as to deepen the meditative state. The background seen in the print is a dappled sky and bushes. My assistant and translator held the mirror and tipped it back forth as I photographed into it. After the shoot and before I could finish thanking her, she bowed her head and closed her eyes. My interpreter motioned for me to do the same until the Mai Chi had finished with the blessing. I pressed my palms together and listened to her low voice whispering into her fingertips. Suddenly, she grabbed me hard and shook me back and forth with all her might. He eyes were wide with fury as she yelled at me. Her hand chased the air as if to shoo flies away from around me. Then, just as quickly as it began, she resumed her blessing and her voice returned to sounding low and hushed. After a while she opened her eyes and smiled. "What was that all about?" I asked my assistant. He responded, "I can't tell you what she said because she was speaking in the language of the angels, the language before any language." Then I asked the Mai Chi what she said. She told me, "I don't know what I said because I wasn't there. Either I feel the presence of the great spirit and allow it to come through or I don't. Today, you are very lucky because you and your work have been blessed by the great spirit." I was honored to have been blessed by a great spirit and did in fact feel lucky that day. However it wasn't until I got home and developed the film I had shot, that I really began to wonder about what happened. In my 20 years experience as a photographer, it was the first time I couldn't find a technical explanation for what I found on her film. The clouds that streak the sky are clearly visible through her robes. It was as if she became translucent from the waist down! It should be optically impossible to photograph anything that is directly behind the subject with or without the use of mirrors.