The Photographic Art of Millard Arnold
All journeys invoke a sense of exploration and discovery. The opportunity to uncover new thoughts, ideas, but where does any journey take us? Although there are milestones along the way, is the destination the point of departure or should a journey every end if the journey is about eternal life?
The Way….
She became increasingly aware that for some time, now, She was on A Path That Had No Beginning And Would Have No End. Mesmerized by what surrounded her and dazzled by its beauty, She paused to appreciate the uncommon, primordial energies swirling about her, energies bursting with Vitality And Consciousness, constantly changing form, a mythical reflection of infinite possibilities. She gazed with wonderment and rapture at a panoply of Complex Ambiguity that danced in front of her, A Riotous Assembly of bombastic shapes and colours demanding attention In The Midst Of Their Exuberance.
She mused, we arrive here from the unknown, where Everything Is Mysteriously The Same and yet it is An Every Changing Mystery. Lost in the Midst Of The Unfathomable, where Eternity Laughs At The Production Of Time, we are aimlessly Wandering In Search Of Why. Yet, how incredibly simple, She thought things should be. Vitality, The Root Essence Of Life,, offered An Unadulterated Sensation; a space where even in the Last Corner Of The Universe and where Where Nothing Is Born And Nothing Dies, Serenity Of Spirit Prevails. It is a primal virtue, A Spiritual Discernment that provides a partial understanding of the utopia of prefect serenity.
She continued along The Way….
Drifting on The Current Of Delight, unseen, unnoticed, unobserved, flowing with The Richness Of Subliminal Virtue, She reflected on how vital it is to Listen To The Whispers because Embracing Virtue, They Are Warm and Harmonious. And A Wealth Of Virtue Seems Inadequate, as Its Nature Is Kindness. She thought it was almost like being in The Middle Of A Dream. Dreams provide an inner vision into the soul, and she understood that by looking within, When You Are One With Virtue, The Virtue Is Always There And because Virtue Will Be Your Beauty, The Blind Cannot Appreciate Beautiful Patterns.
She was struck by a profound truth: While vitality is the root essence of life, Harmony Is The Root Of Existence. Knowing Harmony Is Constancy; Knowing Constancy Is Enlightenment. Listen To Your Intuition and be Fortified By Accumulated Virtue. Go By Circumstances; Listen To Intuition.
The Way had brought her to this place. And searching deep within, she discovered The Mystery At The Heart Of All Things, Where The Virtue Eternally Abides. She had arrived at the Center Of The Quintessential, where To Die But Not To Perish Is To Be Eternally Present. She was comforted by the knowledge that at the center of the quintessential is perfect serenity:
comforted in the spaciousness of it,
comforted to find what is inexhaustible,
comforted that in it are essences, subtle but real.
She intuitively understood that When you know what eternally is so, To Return To The Center Is An Act Of Infinite Kindness. When things seem to be in discord; return to the center and See Simplicity In The Complicated because There Is A Stillness In The Center, Constantly And So Forever. Nourish the inside, soften the outside, strengthen the center.
The Sublime Is Found In Plain Knowledge …
But nothing ever stays the same in this world of Perpetual Transformation. Conflicts are the source of evolution: What It Changes, Is What Changes, so Once the Whole Is Divided; The Parts Need Names. And yet, Their Dividedness Is Their Completeness because What Is Becomes What Should Be. She thought deeply about this and accepted an An Understanding That Rests In What It Does Not Understand. Looking For Impossible Answers was beyond all resolution because Confusion Will Arise, However Clever One Is.Therefore, nothing exist – this is perfect understanding: A Present Believing A Past; A Past Believing A Present
She continued along The Way curious about what awaited her but placated by the notion that Spirit Moves Where It Wants….
And now she found herself Teetering on the brink of perfect balance , at a point in the universe that contains all other points, past, present and future. She was embraced in The Eternity Of The Present Moment where Awareness Is What Matters. She was Neither Coming Or Going, surrendering to the Glorious Harmony Of Motion. She intuitively understood that Yielding To Force Is Strength, and that it is Not This; Not That but to Accept Difficulty As An Opportunity. She was comforted — The Less They Knew, The More They Understood. She looked around herself and thought How Useful It Is To Be Useless and thought even as I journey along the way, Let Your Footsteps Leave No Trace….
In the pleasure of solitude, and the comfort of self, she was struck by the notion that Nothing Is More Manifest Than The Hidden; Nothing Is More Obvious Than The Unseen. She thought it so important to Dwell On What Is Real And Not What Is On The Surface because What Depths of Joy Lie Hidden Within. She smiled in recognition that within — within, is where the world’s treasures have always been. Indeed, she thought it was the Source Of Constant Happiness since What You Want Is Exactly What You Have. Your Joy, Then Must Be Uncountable because Such Unearthly Beauty – Oh, Hidden Deep But Ever Present, is beyond measure. Hold on to what is deep because the happiness of one becomes the joy of all.
The separateness from the Center revealed to her a simple, but fundamental truth: all of Life Is A Movement Toward Perfection. It does not require great deeds or arduous commitment; The Imperfect Gesture Of Ordinary Life opens The Possibility Of Total Fulfillment. And When You understand perfection, you realise that there is nothing to seek.
She smiled at the realization that The Satisfaction Of Contentment Is A Lasting Satisfaction because it is The Key That Unlocks The Door To Happiness, Wisdom And Truth. To Attain Knowledge, Add Things Every Day; To Attain Wisdom, Remove Things Every Day. Profit Comes From What Is There; Usefulness Comes From What Is Not There.
She pondered on the unfolding of life and the possibilities that existed if one could unravel the urge to control, because surrender brings perfection and Perfection Is Beyond Comparison, beyond judgement. The virtue of not striving was an experience that can happen if you let go, and to let go is An Act Of Compassion Without Which There Is No Wisdom.
She had reached a point in her journey where the Mind Realizes Its Own Nature She understood that she had to be guided by what you feel, not by what you see, as Uncertainty Is The Only Certainty. And to think otherwise would be looking for impossible answers. She was aware that You have to leave in order to return to the present because Returning To The Source Is Stillness, Which Is The Way Of Nature. Can you return to the beginning of time? She must. She knew she had to return to Where The End Meets Its Beginning. It meant going To The Edge Of The Unknown, Past The Beginning And The End, Time Before The Beginning Of Time, because it finally dawned on her that there is no beginning of time, only A Beginning Of Thought.
She pauses and examines her innermost self: Am I One With Them? And I one with the universe? She understood that she is The Field Of Awareness; The Fulcrum Of The Possible. No One Knows Her Beginning; No One Knows Her End She recognized that she is Planted In Her Own Integrity and that She Speaks When She is Silent. She is, She comprehended, the one She always wanted to be. The lesson life teaches is that Things Are What They Are. What Happens Is What Should Have Happened therefore it is more important to See The Simplicity:
- One who knows others is intelligent
- One who knows herself is enlightened
- One who conquers others is strong
- One who conquers herself is all powerful
- One who approaches life with force
- Surely gets something
- One who remains content where she is
- Surely gets everything
- One who gives herself to her position
- Surely lives long
- One who gives herself to the Way
- Surely lives forever
If Heaven And Earth Cannot Make Things Eternal, How Is It Possible For Man?
Only The Inner Light Illuminates Eternity
Contented and deeply at peace,
She….
continued along the Way….