Uncertainty about assurance, faith and certainty

I am moved to wonder on the state and condition of certainty since finding this provisional translation of Lawh-i-‘Ustad Husayn-i-Khayyát[1] (Tablet to ‘Ustad Husayn-i-Khayyát)[2] A Provisional Translation of the Tablet of the Master.   SEE HERE for the translator’s footnotes

Since the translator is the good Doctor Khazeh Fananapazir I better say (sincerely and with love) that these are nothing but miserable and dubious scribblings by this utterly unworthy servant who wanders endlessly in the desert of ‘not knowing’…………….

Enough of that here is the good Doctor’s provisional translation;

The station of assurance[3] is greater in degree than that of mere faith.[4] It is the station denoted by “that they should add faith upon faith.”[5]

Even though His holiness Abraham was in the highest station of assurance,[6] the divine perfections have no end. The grades of existence are finite but the perfections in each grade of existence are endless.

1) Thus when He [Abraham] sayeth, “that my heart may have assurance”[7] this is the station of the Knowledge of Certainty.[8] This is a certainty that will be achieved with reflection and rational proofs.

2) The Station of the Vision of Certainty[9] is the station of beholding the lights of certainty.[10]

3) The station of the Reality of Certainty[11] is the full realization of that certainty.

The similitude and example of this is this: that with reflection and rational proof, certainty about the existence of fire can be achieved, but when one seeth fire itself, that is then the station of the Vision of Certainty.

When a human being gets ignited with that same fire or when one senses fully the heat of that fire, that is the station of the Reality of Certainty. Thus when his holiness Abraham, the Friend of God, was eager to attain the infinite perfections of the All Merciful One, He, therefore, sought the increased realization of all Lordly conditions.

In particular, He sought the raising of the dead. His purpose in wishing the raising of the dead was the acquisition of eternal life, not this elemental earthly life. His intention was the appearance of all the conditions and grades of existence in His Own blessed Self so that by the breath of the Holy Spirit He might be living eternally even after His evanescence and end.

Upon thee be the Glory of God!

What can we learn from this tablet?

1 Certainty is a matter of station within which there are endless perfections

Perhaps the perfections might be related to what a philosopher might call degrees of certainty.

Baha’is of course believe that the station of the Manifestation is categorically above that of us imperfect humans but since both Manifestations and ordinary humans are made in the image of God we must function like the Manifestation – but with more or less imperfection.
2) The station of the knowledge of Certainty is  achieved with reflection and rational proofs.

3) The station of the Vision of Certainty[9] is the station of beholding the lights of certainty

How do we behold the lights of certainty?  Through what means? Might this be heart-knowing as opposed to head-knowing. The heart is infinite, the head finite.

4) The station of the Reality of Certainty[11] is the full realization of that certainty

Is it true to say that since perfections are endless full realization would be structural rather than a matter of completion?  One way to see this would be a balance of head and heart, of knowledge and vision

The following also come to mind

We should relate reflection on this tablet with Abdu’l-Baha four criteria of truth.

We might also want to connect our reflection with such Islamic commentary as Ibn-al-Arabi’s 3 ways of knowing

We might want to reflect on the Christian meaning of ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’.

We might want to reflect on the philosopher Wittgenstein’s view that ‘knowledge in the end is based on acknowledgment‘.  (You won’t get a member of the Flat-Earth Society to acknowledge that the earth is round!)

We might want also to connect with Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe.   (Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 27)

A ‘complete’ model of personal development

Occasionally one comes across passages in the Baha’i writings that look like ‘complete’ models or sub-models. For example in my PhD thesis and elsewhere I have suggested that the following passage comes close to constituting a ‘complete’ model of Baha’i-inspired education.

Among these children many blessed souls will arise, if they be trained according to the Bahá’í Teachings. If a plant is carefully nurtured by a gardener, it will become good, and produce better fruit. These children must be given a good training from their earliest childhood. They must be given a systematic training which will further their development from day to day, in order that they may receive greater insight, so that their spiritual receptivity be broadened. Beginning in childhood they must receive instruction. They cannot be taught through books. Many elementary sciences must be made clear to them in the nursery; they must learn them in play, in amusement. Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not by book learning. One child must question the other concerning these things, and the other child must give the answer. In this way, they will make great progress. For example, mathematical problems must also be taught in the form of questions and answers. One of the children asks a question and the other must give the answer. Later on, the children will of their own accord speak with each other concerning these same subjects. The children who are at the head of the class must receive premiums. They must be encouraged and when any one of them shows good advancement, for the further development they must be praised and encouraged therein. Even so in Godlike affairs. Oral questions must be asked and the answers must be given orally. They must discuss with each other in this manner.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “The Bahá’í World”, Vol. 9 (1940-1944)(Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1945), p. 543)

Recently I discovered another passage – which might constitute a ‘complete’ model of personal development?

Sense-perception gives rise to desire, desire to will, will to action, and action again to sense-perception. This chain ever repeats itself, and so the powers of thought, memory, reason, and the emotional capacities are evolved in spirit. These power and capacities of spirit, expressed in individual human beings, constitute human characters.

Through these successive evolutionary steps, spirit develops characters having Divine attributes. The positive, creative aspect of God is reflect in the them. Individuality is derived from expression in individual form. Self-consciousness accompanies individualised character, and the being thus endowed has the potentiality of rising to the knowledge of God.

Characters inspired by the universal human spirit continue in lines of specific developing types, as did species in the vegetable and animal kingdoms.

(Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 301)

 

At least the passage provides an insight into the dynamics of the haert0-mind i.e. to consciousness and our interior life.

‘The Spirit of Photography’ as ‘Writing with Light’: Baha’i, photographers and other spiritual quotations

Main education site is HERE

 

‘The Spirit of Photography as ‘Writing with Light” –

 

a ‘Taoistic’ compilation that juxtaposes statements about photography with Bahá’í statements

concerning such themes as beauty, light & the flow of spirit –

to point towards

a) a Bahá’í-inspired aesthetic, &

b) a view of photography as mystical experience

NB I have put the Bahá’í and other ’spiritual’ statements in bold

1 -“His beauty hath no veiling save light, His face no covering save revelation.” SV p 38

2 A painter works with colour as the medium, a photographer works with light. – Carlotta M. Corpron (God works with love RP)

3 -’Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe’ SAB 27

4 “Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.” Walker Evans

5 -This is the Day, O my Lord, whose brightness Thou hast exalted above the brightness of the sun and the splendors thereof. I testify that the light it sheddeth proceedeth out of the glory of the light of Thy countenance, and is begotten by the radiance of the morn of Thy Revelation P& M 273

6 Light is my inspiration. My photographic images search for dimensions that words cannot touch– the result of intense responses to personal experiences. I do not wish to “record,” but rather to touch upon the illusive meanings which I perceive and try to comprehend in this limitless universe. -Ruth Bernhard, “Collection of Ginny Williams” by Ruth Bernhard , ISBN: 1881138046

7 -In every moment of genuine love, we are dwelling in God and God is dwelling in us. ~ Paul Tillich

8 Everything is one and I am one with it. -Ruth Bernhard

9 -“There exists only the present instant… a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence.” Meister Eckhart

10 This unexpected image was the record of an inner state that I did not remember seeing and he did not remember experiencing at the moment of exposure. -Minor White, “Mirrors, messages, manifestations” by Minor White. Millerton, New York: Aperture, 1969.

11 -Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more. PHW

12 Inside movement there is one moment in which the elements are in balance. Photography must seize the importance of this moment and hold immobile the equilibrium of it. – HCB

13 Theological matters: – (There is no such’ thing’ as God. ‘Thingification’ is something we mustn’t do to others (as the Nazis did) – let alone God. So what then is God? ‘God is love.’ Love is a state of a) being and of b) relating. However it seems that as Bahá’ís we go beyond Tillich’s ‘the ground of being’ (because it was finistic?) because for us our theology is panentheistic – we believe simultaneously in God immanent and God transcendent. (RP)

Theology can be logical or illogical – but in both cases it is commentary on ineffable, personal experience of that which originates in Mystery, in the unknown & unknowable. If we are blessed some insights are gained from such experiences. Art photography can be windows to such insights, including glimpses of the ineffable and the divine. RP)

14 -’Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man’. PT 30

15 -”A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you…..” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

16 -“ …creative quickening emanates from the breaths of the Holy Spirit”, PUP130

17 To take photographs means to recognize — simultaneously and within a fraction of a second — both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one’s head, one’s eye and one’s heart on the same axis. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

18 -“The breath of God is breathing me…”

19 *He made me suddenly realize that photographs could reach eternity through the moment. – HCB

20 -With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men SV12

21 I’m not responsible for my photographs. Photography is not documentary, but intuition, a poetic experience. It’s drowning yourself, dissolving yourself, and then sniff, sniff, sniff – being sensitive to coincidence. You can’t go looking for it; you can’t want it, or you wont get it. First you must lose your self. Then it happens. – Henri Cartier-B

22 -”That which you are seeking is doing the seeking.” (St. Francis of Assissi)

23 A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. -Diane Arbus

24 -There are certain pillars which have been established as the unshakeable supports of the Faith of God. The mightiest of these is learning and the use of the mind, the expansion of consciousness, and insight into the realities of the universe and the hidden mysteries of Almighty God. SAB 126

25 Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen. Minor White

26 -“There exists only the present instant… a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence.” Meister Eckhart

27 To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event, as well as of a precise organisation of forms which give that event its proper expression. Henri Cartier-Bresson

28 -Knowledge is of two kinds. One is subjective and the other objective knowledge – that is to say, an intuitive knowledge and a knowledge derived from perception.

The knowledge of things which men universally have is gained by reflection or by evidence – that is to say, either by the power of the mind the conception of an object is formed, or from beholding an object the form is produced in the mirror of the heart. The circle of this knowledge is very limited because it depends upon effort and attainment.

But the second sort of knowledge, which is the knowledge of being, is intuitive….. SAQ157-159

29 Impressionism has induced the study of what we see and shown us that we all see differently; it has done good to photography by showing that we should represent what we see and not what the lens sees . . . What do we see when we go to Nature? We see exactly what we are trained to see, and, if we are lucky, perhaps a little more but not much . . . We see what we are prepared to see and on that I base a theory that we should be very careful what we learn. – Henry Peach Robinson

30 -O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes. AHW 2

31 Thinking should be done before and after, not during photographing. Henri Cartier-Bresson

32 -How shall we attain the reality of knowledge? By the breaths and promptings of the Holy Spirit, which is light and knowledge itself. Through it the human mind is quickened and fortified into true conclusions and perfect knowledge. PUP p.22

33 This recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant of preoccupation, being a simultaneous coalition – an organic coordination of visual elements. – Henri Cartier-Bresson

34 -Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of the capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the recipients of Our hidden grace. BWF 133

35 Photography is, for me, a spontaneous impulse coming from an ever attentive eye which captures the moment and its eternity. -HCB

36 -(the) heart, ….. is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God KI 192

37 As time passes by and you look at portraits, the people come back to you like a silent echo. A photograph is a vestige of a face, a face in transit. Photography has something to do with death. It’s a trace. -Henri Cartier-Bresson

38 -truth in its essence cannot be put into words. (about pictures of Divinity ‘Maybe story) AB in L 22′

39 There is no art which affords less opportunity to execute expression than photography. Everything is concentrated in a few seconds, when after perhaps an hours seeking, waiting, and hesitation, the photographer sees the realization of his inward vision, and in that moment he has one advantage over most arts – his medium is swift enough to record his momentary inspiration. -Sadakichi Hartmann

40 -Dance, as though no one is watching,

Love, as though you’ve never been hurt before,

Sing, as though no one can hear you,

Work, as though you don’t need the money,

Live, as though heaven is on earth. ~Rumi~

41 I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help. -Ruth Bernhard

42 -”I was asleep on My couch: the breaths of My Lord the Merciful passed over Me and awakened Me from sleep: TN7

43 for me, the creation of a photograph is experienced as a heightened emotional response, most akin to poetry and music, each image the culmination of a compelling impulse I cannot deny. Whether working with a human figure or a still life, I am deeply aware of my spiritual connection with it. In my life, as in my work, I am motivated by a great yearning for balance and harmony beyond the realm of human experience, reaching for the essence of oneness with the Universe. -Ruth Bernhard

44 -God has revealed his light many times in order to illumine mankind in the path of evolution. AB DP 8

45 There is no closed figure in nature. Every shape participates with another. No one thing is independent of another, and one thing rhymes with another, and light gives them shape. -Henri Cartier-Bresson

46 -Now concerning mental faculties, they are in truth of the inherent properties of the soul, even as the radiation of light is the essential property of the sun. (Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet to August Forel, p.

47 As time passes by and you look at portraits, the people come back to you like a silent echo. A photograph is a vestige of a face, a face in transit. Photography has something to do with death. It’s a trace. -Henri Cartier-Bresson

48 -Kill these four birds of prey,” [1] that after death the riddle of life may be unraveled. 4V 50

49 Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes a precise moment in time. We play with subjects that disappear; and when they’re gone, it’s impossible to bring them back to life. We can’t alter our subject afterward…. Writers can reflect before they put words on paper…. As photographers, we don’t have the luxury of this reflective time….We can’t redo our shoot once we’re back at the hotel. Our job consists of observing reality with help of our camera (which serves as a kind of sketchbook), of fixing reality in a moment, but not manipulating it, neither during the shoot nor in the darkroom later on. These types of manipulation are always noticed by anyone with a good eye. -Henri Cartier-Bresson, “American Photo”, September/October 1997, page: 76

50 -These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory. They are the Treasuries of Divine knowledge, and the Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace that is infinite, and by them is revealed the Light that can never fade…. These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest. GL 47

51 The state of mind of a photographer while creating is a blank…For those who would equate “blank” with a kind of static emptiness, I must explain that this is a special kind of blank. It is a very active state of mind really, a very receptive state of mind, ready at an instant to grasp an image, yet with no image pre-formed in it at any time. We should note that the lack of a pre-formed pattern or preconceived idea of how anything ought to look is essential to this blank condition. Such a state of mind is not unlike a sheet of film itself – seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second’s exposure conceives a life in it. (Not just life, but “a” life). -Minor White, “The Camera Mind and Eye” . Magazine of Art, Vol. 45, No. 1, pp.16-19

52 -No one else besides Thee hath, at any time, been able to fathom Thy mystery, or befittingly to extol Thy greatness. GL 4

Some ‘LIGHT’ Quotations for Photographers

I guess most people will have thought about the  connection between spiritual writings about light and the fact that photography literally means writing with light.  Here are some quotations to inspire you further.

 Some ‘LIGHT’ Quotations for Photographers

• The art or process of producing images by the action of light on surfaces sensitized by chemical processes.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/artsed/scos/visualarts/vglossary
• From the Greek Photos and Graphos, light writing or writing with light. The mix of art, craft and science for the creation of images on a light sensitive surface (such as film or a CCD).
http://www.startphoto.com/learn/glossary/glossary_ph-pn.htm
• Writing with light.
http://www.bestcameraprices.com/glossary.htm
71.  O SON OF MAN!  Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of LIGHT upon the tablet of thy spirit.  Should this not be in thy power, then make thine ink of the essence of thy heart.  If this thou canst not do,
then write with that crimson ink that hath been shed in My path.  Sweeter indeed is this to Me than all else, that its LIGHT may endure for ever.

THE TWO KINDS OF LIGHT                                                                  
     Today the weather is gloomy and dull!  In the East there is continual sunshine, the stars are never veiled, and there are very few clouds.  LIGHT always rises in the East and sends forth its radiance into the West.
     There are two kinds of LIGHT.  There is the visible LIGHT of the sun, by whose aid we can discern the beauties of the world around us – without this we could see nothing.    Nevertheless, though it is the function of this LIGHT to make things visible to us, it cannot give us the power to see them or to understand what their various charms
may be, for this LIGHT has no intelligence, no consciousness.   It is the LIGHT of the intellect which gives us knowledge and understanding, and without this LIGHT the physical eyes would be useless.
     This LIGHT of the intellect is the highest LIGHT that exists, for it is born of the LIGHT Divine.
     The LIGHT of the intellect enables us to understand and realize all that exists, but it is only the Divine LIGHT that can give us sight for the invisible things, and which enables us to see truths that will only be visible to the world thousands of years hence.        It was the Divine LIGHT which enabled the prophets to see two thousand years in advance what was going to take place and today we see the realization of their vision.  Thus it is this LIGHT which we must strive to seek, for it is greater than any other.
     It was by this LIGHT that Moses was enabled to see and comprehend the Divine Appearance, and to hear
the Heavenly Voice which spoke to him from the Burning Bush.(1)
     It is of this LIGHT Muhammad is speaking when he says, `Allah is the LIGHT of the Heavens, & of the Earth’.
     Seek with all your hearts this Heavenly LIGHT, so that you may be enabled to understand the realities,
that you may know the secret things of God, that the hidden ways may be made plain before your eyes.
     This LIGHT may be likened unto a mirror, and as a mirror reflects all that is before it, so this LIGHT shows
to the eyes of our spirits all that exists in God’s Kingdom and causes the realities of things to be made
visible.  By the help of this effulgent LIGHT all the spiritual interpretation of the Holy Writings has been made plain, the hidden things of God’s Universe have become manifest, and we have been enabled to comprehend the Divine purposes for man.     I pray that God in His mercy may illumine your hearts and souls with His glorious LIGHT, then shall each one of you shine as a radiant star in the dark places of the world.

12.  O SON OF BEING!  With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and with in thee have I placed the essence of My LIGHT.  Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding.  Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.

33.  O SON OF SPIRIT!  With the joyful tidings of LIGHT I hail thee:  rejoice! To the court of holiness I summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore.

13.  O SON OF SPIRIT!   I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?  Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself?  Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enLIGHTenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another?  Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.

11.  O SON OF BEING!    Thou art My lamp and My LIGHT is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none
other than Me.  For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee.

PUP  Pages 23-24 ….certain minerals come from the stony regions of the earth.  All are minerals, all are produced by the same sun, but one remains a stone while another develops the capacity of a glittering gem or jewel. From one plot of land tulips and hyacinths grow; from another, thorns and thistles.  Each plot receives the bounty of the sunshine, but the capacity to receive it is not the same.  Therefore, it is requisite that we must develop capacity and divine susceptibility in order that the merciful bounty of the Sun of Truth intended for this age and time in which we are living may reflect from us as LIGHT from pure crystals  Paris Talks*  Pages 68-69

ADDRESS BY ABDU’L-BAHA
AT THE FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE, ST MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON, W.C.
Sunday, January 12th, 1913

 About one thousand years ago a society was formed in Persia called the Society of the Friends, who gathered together for silent communion with the Almighty.      They divided Divine philosophy into two parts:
one kind is that of which the knowledge can be acquired through lectures and study in schools and colleges.  The second kind of philosophy was that of the Illuminati, or followers of the inner LIGHT.  The schools of this philosophy were held in silence.  Meditating, and turning their faces to the Source of LIGHT, from that central LIGHT the  mysteries of the Kingdom were reflected in the hearts of these people.  All the Divine problems were solved by this power of illumination.
     This Society of Friends increased greatly in Persia, and up to the present time their societies exist.  Many
books and epistles were written by their leaders.  When they assemble in their meeting-house they sit silently   and contemplate; their leader opens with a certain proposition, and says to the assembly `You must meditate
on this problem’.  Then, freeing their minds from everything else, they sit and reflect, and before long the answer is revealed to them.  Many abstruse divine questions are solved by this illumination.
     Some of the great questions unfolding from the rays of the Sun of Reality upon the mind of man are:
the problem of the reality of the spirit of man; of the birth of the spirit; of its birth from this world into
the world of God; the question of the inner life of the spirit and of its fate after its ascension from the body.
     They also meditate upon the scientific questions of the day, and these are likewise solved.
     These people, who are called `Followers of the inner LIGHT’, attain to a superlative degree of power, and are
entirely freed from blind dogmas and imitations.  Men rely on the statements of these people:  by themselves -
within themselves – they solve all mysteries.      If they find a solution with the assistance of the inner LIGHT, they accept it, and afterwards they declare it:  otherwise they would consider it a matter of blind imitation.  They go so far as to reflect upon the essential nature of the Divinity, of the Divine revelation, of the manifestation of the Deity in this world.  All the divine and scientific questions are solved by them through the power of the spirit.
     Baha’u'llah says there is a sign (from God) in every phenomenon:  the sign of the intellect is contemplation
and the sign of contemplation is silence, because it is impossible for a man to do two things at one time – he
cannot both speak and meditate.
     It is an axiomatic(self-evident) fact that while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit.  In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers:  the LIGHT breaks forth and the reality is revealed.
     You cannot apply the name `man’ to any being void of this faculty of meditation; without it he would be a mere animal, lower than the beasts.      Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of Holy Spirit – the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation.
     The spirit of man is itself informed and strengthened during meditation; through it affairs of which man knew nothing are unfolded before his view.  Through it he receives Divine inspiration, through it he receives heavenly food.
     Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries.  In that state man abstracts himself:  in that
state man withdraws himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is immersed in the ocean of
spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves.   To illustrate this, think of man as endowed
with two kinds of sight; when the power of insight is being used the outward power of vision does not see.
     This faculty of meditation frees man from the animal nature, discerns the reality of things, puts man in
touch with God.
     This faculty brings forth from the invisible plane the sciences and arts.  Through the meditative faculty
inventions are made possible, colossal undertakings are carried out; through it governments can run smoothly. 
Through this faculty man enters into the very Kingdom of God.
     Nevertheless some thoughts are useless to man; they are like waves moving in the sea without result.  But
if the faculty of meditation is bathed in the inner LIGHT and characterized with divine attributes, the results
will be confirmed.
     The meditative faculty is akin to the mirror; if you put it before earthly objects it will reflect them.  Therefore
if the spirit of man is contemplating earthly subjects he will be informed of these.      But if you turn the mirror of your spirits heavenwards, the heavenly constellations and the rays of the Sun of Reality will be reflected in your hearts, and the virtues of the Kingdom will be obtained.
     Therefore let us keep this faculty rightly directed – turning it to the heavenly Sun and not to earthly objects – so that we may discover the secrets of the Kingdom, and comprehend the allegories of the Bible and the mysteries of the spirit.
     May we indeed become mirrors reflecting the heavenly realities, and may we become so pure as to
reflect the stars of heaven.                                                                                                  Paris Talks  Page 173
Photography

Baha’u'llah:  Gleanings               Pages 65-66
     Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him – a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation….  Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the LIGHT of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes.  Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self.  Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.
     These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of LIGHT are potentially present in the lamp.  The radiance of these energies may be obscured

Photography   A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there—even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.  Robert Doisneau

It is not merely the likeness which is precious . . . but the association and the sense of nearness involved in the thing . . . the fact of the very shadow of the person lying there fixed forever! It is the very sanctification of portraits I think—and it is not at all monstrous in me to say . . . that I would rather have such a memorial of one I dearly loved, than the noblest Artist’s work ever produced.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The most refined skills of color printing, the intricate techniques of wide-angle photography, provide us pictures of trivia bigger and more real than life. We forget that we see trivia and notice only that the reproduction is so good. Man fulfils his dream and by photographic magic produces a precise image of the Grand Canyon. The result is not that he adores nature or beauty the more. Instead he adores his camera—and himself.   Daniel J. Boorstin
The camera can photograph thought. It’s better than a paragraph of sweet polemic.  Dirk Bogarde
Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does. John Berger
The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget. John Berger
Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.  Tony Benn

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.  Dorothea Lange
Photographers never have much incentive to show the world as it is.   William Leith

The magic of photography y is metaphysical. What you see in the photograph isn’t what you saw at the time. The real skill of photography is organised visual lying.  Terence Donovan
That the outer man is a picture of the inner, and the face an expression and revelation of the whole character, is a presumption likely enough in itself, and therefore a safe one to go on; borne out as it is by the fact that people are always anxious to see anyone who has made himself famous. . . . Photography . . . offers the most complete satisfaction of our curiosity.  Arthur Schopenhauer

In America, the photographer is not simply the person who records the past, but the one who invents it.  Susan Sontag

It is not altogether wrong to say that there is no such thing as a bad photograph—only less interesting, less relevant, less mysterious ones.   Susan Sontag
Most modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
W Stevens (1879–1955), U.S. poet. Opus Posthumous, “Adagia” (1959).
We regard the photograph, the picture on our wall, as the object itself (the man, landscape, and so on) depicted there. This need not have been so. We could easily imagine people who did not have this relation to such pictures. Who, for example, would be repelled by photographs, because a face without color and even perhaps a face in reduced proportions struck them as inhuman. Ludwig Wittgenstein
Photography suits the temper of this age—of active bodies and minds. It is a perfect medium for one whose mind is teeming with ideas, imagery, for a prolific worker who would be slowed down by painting or sculpting, for one who sees quickly and acts decisively, accurately.   Edward Weston
The camera is a killing chamber, which speeds up the time it claims to be conserving. Like coffins exhumed and prised open, the photographs put on show what we were and what we will be again.  Peter Conrad

I  have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term—meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching—there would be a vast improvement in total output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.
Ansel Adams

If I were just curious, it would be very hard to say to someone, “I want to come to your house and have you talk to me and tell me the story of your life.” I mean people are going to say, “You’re crazy.” Plus they’re going to keep mighty guarded. But the camera is a kind of license. A lot of people, they want to be paid that much attention and that’s a reasonable kind of attention to be paid.   Diane Arbus

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.   Diane Arbus
The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking. Brooks Atkinson
It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter, because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the ordinary. D Bailey

The photographic image . . . is a message without a code.   Roland Barthes

If photography is allowed to stand in for art in some of its functions it will soon supplant or corrupt it completely thanks to the natural support it will find in the stupidity of the multitude. It must return to its real task, which is to be the servant of the sciences and the arts, but the very humble servant, like printing and shorthand which have neither created nor supplanted literature.   Charles Baudelaire
Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of Art, because they have an inferiority complex about their Craft. You and I would see more interesting photography if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look and feel of their own era. Jessie Tarbox Beals

The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.  Walter Benjamin ,

Tourism
Using a camera appeases the anxiety which the work-driven feel about not working when they are on vacation and supposed to be having fun. They have something to do that is like a friendly imitation of work: they can take pictures.
Susan Sontag (b. 1933), U.S. essayist. On Photography, “Plato’s Cave” (1977).

Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child.
Norman Mailer (b. 1923), U.S. author. Newsweek (New York, 22 Oct. 1984).

Any one who knows what the worth of family affection is among the lower classes, and who has seen the array of little portraits stuck over a labourer’s fireplace . . . will perhaps feel with me that in counteracting the tendencies, social and industrial, which every day are sapping the healthier family affections, the sixpenny photograph is doing more for the poor than all the philanthropists in the world.
MacMillan’s Magazine (London, Sept. 1871).
Photographers never have much incentive to show the world as it is.
William Leith (b. 1960), British journalist. Independent on Sunday (London, 13 Sept. 1992).

Housework
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.
Phyllis Diller (b. 1917), U.S. author, actor. Quoted in: Jilly Cooper & Tom Hartman, Violets and Vinegar, “I Liked You Better Smaller” (1980).
Photography and Painting
All photographs are there to remind us of what we forget. In this—as in other ways—they are the opposite of paintings. Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.  
John Berger (b. 1926), British novelist, critic. Keeping a Rendezvous, “How Fast Does It Go?” (1992

The painter constructs, the photographer discloses.   
Susan Sontag (b. 1933), U.S. essayist. On Photography, “The Heroism of Vision” (1977