firstnen
I’ve been writing lately; going deep. My mind is full with thoughts and ideas, making my daily walks even more important. On this day, I was just beginning my walk and entering the park. I saw a flash or orange that made me stop. The photograph above shows what I saw – my initial perception. I then took a moment to figure out how to compose in order to show just what I saw – no more, no less. Visual design always makes my day.

The Zen of Seeing 

While reviewing notes from one of my favourite books, The Zen of Seeing(paid link), by the artist Frederick Franck, I came across this excerpt describing the progression from perception to thought.

7th century masters had become aware of time as composed of ultra short time fragments which they called NEN, thought moments of such flashing brevity that for all practical purposes could be called timeless.

first Nen – first perception of something which is purely intuitive and cognitive; a flash of profound insight.

second Nen – flash of mental reflection, becoming aware of my intuitive insight; a profound “knowing.”

third Nen – this awareness becomes “my” awareness, integrated in my conscious; processed in that region of the mind where reasoning, labelling, introspection, ego-feeling take over.

First nen is perception, the space before the thought. Second nen is when we become conscious of the perception. And, third nen is the conceptual thought. We’ve put a label on it.

One of the most rewarding aspects of photography, for me, is realizing and trusting “first nen.” 

These moments happen when we’re open to whatever arises. When I’m open, first nen perceptions come easily and often. Sometimes I can be startled into openness by a strong perception. This example above was one for me.

There are many ways that openness can be blocked. For me, the two main ones are my incessantly busy mind and judgments (the worthiness factor). To settle the mind, I do exercises to bring me into presence, like a pre-photo walk meditation or focusing on a couple of senses (like sounds and the feel of your feet touching the ground). The best way to work with judgments is to acknowledge them and then get curious. Is there another way of seeing the subject or the situation? In the case of this photograph, it did open me up for the rest of my walk.

More on Openness and Perception

Grace and Four Blocks to Openness

Julie duBose speaks about perceptions

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