Tag: Wisdom

writing magic.

Posted on by Ajmal

Writing and the connection achieved by it sometimes have a transformative effect that’s often magical. It’s often how you discover your true tribe.

Illustrated by The Border Of a Mind Studios

“Writing, if nothing else, is a bridge between two people, a bridge made of language. And language belongs to all of us. If I enjoy a poem, that just means I am recognizing within it something of myself, something I must already possess. Therefore, to love a poem is to love a part of myself revealed to me by another person…I really believe that writing is the closest thing we have to true magic. Where else, but in words, can we discover each other out of thin air?”

― Ocean Vuong

pliable

Posted on by Ajmal

“A man is born gentle and weak; at his death, he is hard and stiff. All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death. Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.”

Lao Tzu

Illustrations | Fine art

farsight

Posted on by Ajmal

I was reading a Persian tradition, and it speaks about a beautiful way of improving perspectives and regulating outlook both during suffering and joy. It says that in any event of suffering or rejoice, try the level best to think about the far times and the far results. In any suffering, the end result of it could be thought of. This way of thinking reduces that suffering. In the same token, after tasting any joy or pleasure, try to think about its end result. This reduces its sweetness and prevents being carried away and drowned by it. “Then What?” is the question to be asked.

vibe tribes

Posted on by Ajmal
Do what you love to discover your tribe

The theme behind this poster graphics is a reflection to have our own vibes to find our tribes. Be it photography, art, writing, engineering, philosophy, sociology, you name it, the tribes of your liking would find you if you really do with lots of love what chimes well with your passion. These need not be always troves of social media following rallying behind you. It can be a small group of good friends in your realm or space who loves what you do and shares the same sense of aesthetics that you effuse or in the mental space, you are in. I’ve always felt that the size of the audience does not matter in any art. Quantification or monetary value has never been and never would be a measure of self-worth and fulfillment. Although not always possible for all of us, to the best, let’s try doing what we love. Rest apprised, we live in a world where even the next minute or next hour or the next day is not guaranteed for us. We only have this moment.

metaphor of sun

Posted on by Ajmal

I photographed this with Netta from the Andaman Islands. What I like the most about this photograph is how the sun rising is spreading its light across everything. From the soothings waves to the rocks to the pebbles, we see its light on everything. This resonates with a theme that I read recently.  On a particular note, the example of sun is provided where the sun encompasses numberless things with its light. It says that a comprehensive outlook is required to behold the sun itself in the totality of its light. For the sun not to be forgotten, its manifestation is displayed on every shining object by its reflection. Further I read that all lustrous objects have a refleciton of sun’s attributes such as its light, heat and the seven colors in its light  (From the Words). The sun’s attributes is encompassing all things facing it. The same allegory is extended to divine mercy we find around us in several manifestations and specifically in man’s mirror like essence. From the food on our table, to the clothes we wear to our comforts, there’re manifestations of divine mercy everywhere.

reliant traveler of the desert

Posted on by Ajmal

A slice of photographic memory from a desert goes well with a story that I read recently.

“Someone who makes a journey through the deserts of Arabia has to travel in the name of a tribal chief and enter under his protection, for in this way he may be saved from the assaults of bandits and secure his needs. On his own, he will perish in the face of innumerable enemies and needs. And so, two men went on such a journey and entered the desert. One of them was modest and humble, the other proud and conceited. The humble man assumed the name of a tribal chief, while the proud man did not. The first traveled safely wherever he went. If he encountered bandits, he said: “I am traveling in the name of such-and-such tribal leader,” and they did not molest him. If he came to some tents, he was treated respectfully due to the name. But the proud man suffered indescribable calamities throughout his journey. He both trembled before everything and begged from everything. He was abased and became an object of scorn.

My proud soul! You are the traveler, and this world is a desert. Your impotence and poverty have no limit, and your enemies and needs are endless. Since it is thus, takes the name of the Pre-Eternal Ruler and Post-Eternal Lord of the desert and be saved from begging before the whole universe and trembling before every event.”
– Excerpt From The First Word, “The Words, The Treatise of Light,” Bediuzzaman.

mind magnet

Posted on by Ajmal

I have read somewhere that mind is akin to a magnet in a certain sense.  It’s concomitant of the thoughts espoused within. If we put our thoughts about blessings,  the mind tends to attract and discover blessings and their deeper meanings. In the same manner,  channeling thoughts of problems would bewitch and attract problems and restlessness. Nurturing and cultivating good thoughts would help in assuming a positive and optimistic frame of mind. That’s a lifetime of learning. Remember the humble life illustration?

Being calm about everything allows your mind to find solutions. Calmness is also a state of trust. Instead of overthinking and overreacting, you just surrender for that moment and allow yourself to receive guidance for what doesn’t make sense – Idil


I’ve personally felt that the strength of calmness is often derived from a trust in the divine timing of events happening and not harboring or apprehending any internal dissent or distress in the way certain things are in the way they’re supposed to be and in accepting certain aspects on the way they are. I believe that’s a quality that’s to be built up with time and experiences and everyone would have different journeys. God bless.

vitreous worlds

Posted on by Ajmal

It’s about having the eye to see the internal within the external. It’s to probe purpose and beauty in chaos and noise. It requires patience, intention, and humility.

“Intellect is the knowledge obtained by the experience of names and forms; wisdom is the knowledge which manifests only from the inner being; to acquire intellect one must delve into studies, but to obtain wisdom, nothing but the flow of divine mercy is needed; it is as natural as the instinct of swimming to the fish, or of flying to the bird. Intellect is the sight which enables one to see through the external world, but the light of wisdom enables one to see through the external into the internal world.”

–Inayat Khan

round pegs in square holes.

Posted on by Ajmal

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

These are the famous words from a rebranding slogan “Think Different” which Apple ran in 1997. I have read that, more than for the public, the ad was basically intended to its employees to inspire them. This was written by Rob Siltanen, chairman and chief creative officer at Siltanen & Partners. After Steve Jobs passed away, someone dug up an old video from archives in which Steve Jobs personally spoke the words of the same ad in his own voice. I saw this many years back, but its timeless theme still strikes a chime.

intangible

Posted on by Ajmal

This resonates well with my take on it. Remember when we talked about the vision? I had written that this space is a virtual studio of arts, ideas and minds built on the idea of embellishment of childish curiosity that we’re born with and to manifest it through fine writings, arts, visuals, and moving images. You cannot touch this space, but if you have been reading me, this humble space, which we call “The Border of a Mind” is in your memory, in an intangible realm of your mind. Keep reading and I’d put my heart and soul in curating this garden of ideas. God bless : )

“The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That’s the only lasting thing you can create.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

illustration based on a portrait taken by dear friend M.H.P