Toward Inner Seeing
*Inspired by The Intuition of Existence by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, my understanding of creative practice begins to shift toward a more attentive way of seeing.
Returning to Inner Knowing
Reading The Intuition of Existence through a tasawuf lens feels like returning to something I already knew but rarely stay with.
“Existence is known through direct intuition before conceptual thought.”
As an artist, this shifts my starting point. Before I shape a sound or name a form, I am asked to meet it. Not as data, not as material, but as presence.
It reminds me that the first act of creation is not making, but witnessing. When I rush into ideas, I miss what is already there.
“Things are not fully grasped by definition, but by their reality.”
In the studio, I often rely on categories. Noise, music, texture, error. But this quote loosens that habit.
A sound does not need my label to exist. When I stay with its reality, it begins to open. What I thought was “noise” may carry a subtle order. What I called “silence” may be full. The work becomes deeper when I stop reducing it too quickly.
“The self that knows must first be known.”
This feels like the most difficult instruction. It turns everything inward. Before refining the work, I must refine the one who perceives it.
In tasawuf, this is the work of knowing the self, softening the ego, and clearing the heart. The more I see my own habits, desires, and distractions, the more the work becomes honest.
Where Seeing, Listening, and Being Meet
Through these reflections, I begin to understand that art is not only about producing something new.
It is about learning how to see, listen, and be present. When the inner state becomes clearer, the work does not need to struggle for meaning.
It simply begins to resonate.
“The first mistake of seeing is thinking you have seen enough.”
Dr.Kamal Sabran
