Writing with light to capture truth
January 2004
By Daisaiku ikeda
A peep into Buddhist philosopher and peace proponent Dr Daisaku Ikeda’s ‘Dialogue with Nature’ photo exhibition that travelled to India recently
Photography, states Dr Daisaku Ikeda, is writing with light and a struggle to capture truth. The response to natural beauty is not merely aesthetic. It reflects an ability to discern a deeper meaning and interconnectedness in things. With its universal language, photography, feels Dr Ikeda, serves as a bridge connecting the hearts of people everywhere.
President of Soka Gakkai International, Dr Ikeda is a globally known Buddhist thinker and author. His interests in art, music and photography are in consonance with his firm belief that all life is integrated. Professing that personal interaction and dialogue are pivotal to establishing lasting peace on earth, Dr Ikeda has been tirelessly travelling all over the world to interact with leaders in political, cultural and educational fields. For the past three decades he has also been clicking photographs to “share his memorable encounters with nature’s breathtaking beauty with as many people as possible”. They also reflect his “appreciation towards the world’s, earth’s and nature’s truth and beauty”. Inevitably, he uses “his heart and not the viewfinder” to compose the images.
Inspired by the photographs he has taken, he has written a series of essays, titled This Beautiful Earth. In one essay, he writes evocatively: “Motionless on the lotus bud, a red dragonfly rested its wings…. A single essence called life in some instances emerges as a green plant with leaves that rustle in the breeze; at others it forms an insect whose wings slice the winds. But now these two expressions of the same life force seemed to merge again as one. No artwork could hope to capture this mysterious beauty of creative form. It was a lesson in how all things are connected.”