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Mirror Mind

“Capture these moments”, exclaimed my wife, as we moved through Suru Valley in our journey towards Padum.


I could sense the moment of disappointment when I chose not to pick the camera. I had a vision to showcase the beauty of Suru, not directly but through reflections in the still water clusters. That would mean, photographing the valley would have to be put on hold till the stillness of the morning hours.

 

If we peel the Subtle human body, it is found to comprise of four faculties, each divested with unique responsibilities.


CONSCIOUSNESS (चित, ਚਿਤ) : It is the Observer “I”, born ‘unconditioned’ and remains unconditioned throughout life.


MIND (मन, ਮਨ) : It is analogous to a Mirror, in which reflect the experiences of the world. While it is a thinking faculty but is ascribed with the characteristic to always move towards the ‘path of least resistance’.


INTELLIGENCE (मत, ਮਤ) : This is the faculty that provides the power of discrimination to the MIND. The ability to distinguish ‘right versus wrong’. This is where judgment happens.

 

EGO (अहंकार, ਅਹੰਕਾਰ) : It is this faculty that is ascribed with the job to create an ‘uneven surface’ over  the INTELLIGENCE so the discriminatory power becomes biased, thus helping the MIND achieve it’s objective to move towards the ‘path of least resistance’.

 

The collective functioning of these subtle faculties, create impressions and lasting memories that form human personalities. In essence, other than pure unconditioned Consciousness, we are just an amalgamation of worldly experiences, cluttered by Ego, that distorts the moment through its uneven surface. It is just as we stand in front of a mirror, the following will happen : if the mirror is even, we will see an undistorted image in the reflection, however, if the surface is uneven, we will see a distorted image.

 

Photographing reflections of Suru Valley in the pools of water in the early morning hours, I could understand why the Indian spiritual masters have commonly leveraged the analogy of mirror and image to explain it’s association with Ego and Mind. The moment the heat of Sun starts creating convection currents, the surface of water pools start becoming uneven, reflecting distorted images.

 

That’s the reason, I chose to photograph the valley in the stillness of the morning. 

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

 

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Reflection of Suru Valley

Comments(28)

  1. Reply
    Geetali says:

    Very tranquil sights. Thank you for sharing the beauty of the mountain lake. Where is it located?

  2. Reply
    Amarjeet says:

    Incredible.

  3. Reply
    Harbans Singh Khakh says:

    Oh my God! Unbelievable beauty! You are so lucky Amardeep! Wish could have gone along!

  4. Reply
    Karaka Singh says:

    Speechless!

  5. Reply
    Paramjit says:

    The photos are a class by themselves.
    And the definitions of Chit (or Surat) Mun, Mut and Budh are very revealing also.

  6. Reply
    Kunwar says:

    Very nice.

  7. Reply
    Vikas Attri says:

    outstanding stuff

  8. Reply
    Sree says:

    Which of these is more outstanding?? Quality of the your pictures or the content in your script? I would say, both are (un)paralleled. And yes, you are undeniably correct. Still water reflects back whatever is in front of it. That’s so much like our mind. Besides, very much like still water, our mind also understands only pictorial language. Want to try if this is true? “Dont think of a grey colour elephant wearing purple socks!!”

  9. Reply
    Mohindra Chadha says:

    Superb stuff, Amardeep!
    The photographs as well as your philosophical and thoughtful narration!

  10. Reply
    Ravinderpal says:

    Awesome photography. Am glad to read about ur journeys.

  11. Reply
    Isha says:

    Great job uncle…….beautiful pictures, and the explanations are very helpful…thank you!!!

  12. Reply
    Ritu Sahney says:

    Incredibly beautiful and tranquil!

  13. Reply
    Raj Mehta says:

    Pretty near the best work so far and in the Natgeo class if not even better.

  14. Reply
    dr.jyoti parkash says:

    very happy to see.beautiful an adorable place.

  15. Reply
    Vineet says:

    The mind is conscious of The mirrors it sees yet chooses the illusion of what is beyond… I see what you see through a mind influenced by The thoughts you percieve.. Beautiful..

  16. Reply
    Rohit says:

    Only u can do it!
    Splendidly done.
    Proud of you!

  17. Reply
    Surupa Chatterjee says:

    How wonderfully you have explained the spirit and soul through the powerful imagery of your photographic eye…Loved it and felt so connected more so as Suru Valley sounds familiar…My name in short is Suru…Thank you for enriching us….

  18. Reply
    Capt Suresh Sharma says:

    Miraculous work…

  19. Reply
    Awadh says:

    Beautiful!!!!

  20. Reply
    Karamjeet Singh says:

    Nice reflections of mind and crystal clear waters of Suru valley.Nice work!!!

  21. Reply
    Karamjeet says:

    Your lens captures everything,which, we as humans may ignore at times,plus our ego does not reflect on those subtle moments which a photographer of your stature finds a meaning in it. Nice job!

  22. Reply
    kishore kumar biswas says:

    When we can come out of our ” self ” , our ” ego “, then the waves of the world we can feel. We cannot see ” reflections ” on a mirror if we hold it too near the eye , a distance is needed for it. The universe reflects on our sense , on our soul. We can see the ” true ” reflection if we can detach ourselves from our ” self ” .
    Here Amardeep presented the ” views ” he saw from a ” distance “. He enjoyed those beauty being detached from it but at the same time he felt himself a ” part ” of it. His limited identity was with harmony with a sublime identity.

  23. Reply
    Dipika Sen says:

    best one…reflection of Suru valley with black-grey cloud at the back sky….

  24. Reply
    kishore says:

    This captured a ” reflection ” which reflected within us and stirred some feelings inexplicable , a feeling which takes us form our monotonous daily life for a moment. That is the success of Amardeep.

  25. Reply
    amarjeet kaur says:

    Amardeep,your photos of suru valley are amazing.the crystal clarity of images are unbelievable,that these places are in this world(in India). Specially your thinking of CHITT, MANN, MATT, AHANKAAR…………philosophy…o…wow

  26. Reply
    Jeremy Whigham says:

    Lovely reflections, so well captured. I shall be there in 4 weeks, journeying from Shimla to Manali, to Leh, to Karkil, to Srinagar. The scenery looks just wonderful but the roads a bit scary!.
    Jeremy

  27. Reply
    Ajay Tripathi says:

    Amazing photos and reflection and serene reflection of nature! I have made second last photo as my desktop background just!!

  28. Reply
    Rajinder Singh says:

    Wah Wah , “kudrat disay kudrat suniay kudrat bhao sukh sar ll kudrat Patali akasi kudrat Sarab Akaar ll
    Wonderful theme

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