In this series, I endeavour to capture the atmosphere of meditation. I want to depict the portraits of monks and nuns, seated in the dim light, with a ‘free’ meditative mind. In meditation, a Buddhist monk often closes his eyes. With his eyes closed, he looks inwards. When the meditation ends, the monk opens his eyes and looks at the real world again. Dharma begins from the life and returns to serve life. I have taken photographs of the front and back of each monk, as there are two faces to everyone, the hidden face and the exposed face.
This series was taken at Tay Thien Zen monasteries (North Vietnam), one of the great monasteries of Truc Lam Zen in North Vietnam. After the shoot, I continued to interview some of the monks on their reasons for leaving home, the significance of Buddhism to them, and so on. I also captured some images of their daily lives and expanded the series. This is the third part to my series under the topic of Dharma and Life, which I have been pursuing for many years.