Miksang, which means "good-eye" in Tibetan, is a process that captures arresting moments of everyday life-and deepens our awareness of them-by using the simplest mechanics of a camera. Inspired by the dharma art and Tibetan Buddhist teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinphoche, Miksang doesn't take much heed of formal photography techniques or professional standbys like complicated lighting setups. Without manipulation and distortion, the eye and the lens are free to simply see. As famed French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once wrote, "People think far too much about techniques and not enough about seeing."
Credit - Julie Dubose
Contemplative photography's roots go back to 1954, when 15-year-old Chögyam Trungpa took his first photograph. The next few decades would see him flee Tibet to India in the footsteps of the Dalai Lama, study comparative religioin at Oxford University, bring Tibetan Buddhism to the West, and found Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Through it all, he continued to shoot rolls of film.
Credit - Katherine Adams
In 1979, a commercial photographer named Michael Wood took notice. Wood wouldn't immediately praise the photography: "I had mixed reactions," he says. "From one point of view I thought he really didn't have his techniques together. But I hadn't seen anything like it; it stopped me in my tracks." Wood began studying Trungpa's dharma art teachings and imitating his work. Eventually, he combined the philosophy with his own professional photography experience to create the methodical exercises at the heart of Miksang.
The art form has flourished over the past 25 years through trainings around the world and at the Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography in Boulder. "We teach anywhere that is available," says Julie DuBose, the Institute's cofounder.
"Miksang is about being present and available."
~Brian Sano, yoga & Miksang instructor
*Dakota Sexton, Yoga International, Winter 2011-12
