Contemplatio

The “Contemplatio” project is a eulogy to the contemplation of nature.  

Nine images that immortalize, in an explosion of colors, the existential apex of nine flowers during the day of the Spring Equinox, March 20, 2021. I chose to take the photographs on this date as the equinox has an important symbolic meaning: on this day the male and female are in total balance and this condition gives to the human beings the maximum possibility to transcend their limits. It is considered a day free from prejudices, which essentially arise in our mind when we are too identified with something. On this day balance reigns as we are not identified with anything, but with the only desire to abandon ourselves to contemplation. 

We need nature to show us a way out of the prison of conceptual thinking. By observing a flower we can feel its quietness and, by doing so, the same stillness arises within us. Unlike humans, plants are not split in two: they do not live through mental images of themselves and, therefore, they do not need to worry about trying to protect and reinforce them. By focusing our awareness on the sounds of nature, we can perceive a sacredness that cannot be understood by thought. 

An intelligence greater than the human mind is activated. It is the same intelligence that sustains everything in nature. The way to get as close as possible to this intelligence is to be aware of our inner field, feeling its vitality. Nature exists in the quietness that exists before the arising of thought. The flower is unaware of its beauty and sacredness because it does not think. This project, therefore, wants to be an invitation to begin to sense what is sacred around us, putting our thinking on the sidelines for once.