Every religion makes us sensitive to the fact that the world we live in is only a small aspect of a larger whole, but at the same time reassures us that we can access this whole as long as we undertake the journey on an existing path, rooted in tradition.[…]
The Inward Moment. The Human Being and the Sacred, a beautiful and extraordinary photo book by Andrzej Ziółkowski, which you hold in your hands, shows the religious cosmos in a very intimate way, focussing on both the most fragile and at the same time the most powerful element of this phenomenon – the human being.
Olga Tokarczuk (from the Foreword to “The Inward Moment”)
The promotion of religious harmony is one of my four life-long commitments. […]
An effective way to promote religious harmony is for the different traditions to provide resources for educating each other about their beliefs and practices. I am pleased that the photographer Andrzej Ziolkowski’s illustrated book […] makes a distinct contribution towards a better understanding of various spiritual traditions.
It is the more heartening that he has been inspired by my friend and spiritual brother, the late Father Bede Griffiths.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (from the Foreword to “The Inward Moment”))
The Benedictine monk Bede Griffths and Fr. Joseph Samarakone OMI, rooted in their own Christian faith, entered into a deep spiritual dialogue with the followers of other spiritual traditions. I am happy to note that inspired by the spiritual testaments of Bede Griffths and Joseph Samarakone, Andrzej Ziółkowski, in his book The Inward Moment. The Human Being and the Sacred narrates the profound religious sense expressed through rites and customs of different religious traditions, through the lens of his camera […].
I am sure that this photo-book will contribute, in his own unique way, towards furthering interreligious understanding and appreciation.
Secretary for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Msgr. Indunil J. Kodithuwakku K (from the Foreword to “The Inward Moment”)
Andrzej Ziolkowski’s two books, “The Inward Moment” and “Universal Wisdom”, which combine his stunning photographic images with a selection of Fr. Bede’s writings, in a sense become another voice in Bede’s quest for genuine interreligious dialogue, a dialogue in which admiration and respect for the other is the necessary precondition. To read Bede’s words along with seeing these beautiful images of the rites, symbols, and iconography, and especially, the faces of faithful devotees and practitioners, transport the reader and the viewer to another plane of understanding, to which words rarely convey, no matter how erudite and profound.
As a monk engaged in such dialogue myself, and one of the custodians of Bede Griffiths legacy through the Bede Griffiths Association and Trust, I heartily recommend Mr. Ziolkowski’s work to the greater audience, but most especially to all those who involve themselves in interreligious or interspiritual dialogue through Universal Wisdom.
Very Rev. Cyprian Consigilio OSB Cam
Prior, New Camaldoli Hermitage
Big Sur, California
On Saturday, June 26, 2021, on the second day of the festival “Spirituality-Recapitulations” an extraordinary circumstance – the world premiere of the album The Inward Moment. The Human being and the Sacred, and the opening of an exhibition under the same title. The album is the fruit of many years of Andrzej Ziółkowski’s work, his numerous travels in Southeast Asia, India, Nepal and Tibet India, as well as his own spiritual quest. He wandered, stopped, contemplated, caught with his camera the sacred, transgressive, metaphysical moments of religions and cultures present in and coexisting, sometimes with difficulty, in this spiritually charged region.
Bogdan Białek
Psychologist, founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of the psychological magazine “Charaktery” (until 2020)
Andrzej Ziółkowski expresses in his unique photographs a deeper understanding of the great religions of the world.
Almost 30 years ago, I collaborated with the legendary English Benedictine monk, mystic and sage Bede Griffiths, in the compilation of his 600-page life’s work Universal Wisdom, in order to make mankind understand, on the basis of the various Holy Scriptures, that all human beings are indiscriminately equal in the deepest inner religious Original Source. Andrzej Ziółkowski has admirably reinforced the spiritual legacy of Bede Griffiths with his outstanding photographs. This book should touch the hearts of people in the 21st century.
Roland R. Ropers
Cultural and Linguistic Philosopher
To catch the elusive in words or images is a huge challenge.
A captivating photo book about the path to the Absolute.
And about the fact that this path can be a work of art in itself.
Magical photographs and a passionate story about the human being, the beauty and the power of the spirit.
Maja Jaszewska
Journalist, poet, writer
In art, truth is the most important thing. The intention of depicting or telling a story should be rooted in the absolute need to speak about what moves us most at each stage of life. Andrzej Ziółkowski, fascinated by the work of the English Benedictine Bede Griffiths has blended with the atmosphere of religious rituals to tell us about the spirituality of people of different faiths. Viewing his album or exhibition we are in the midst of these, on the one hand very different practices, but on the other, equally necessary and sustaining hope.
Tomek Sikora
Photographer
Sometimes, not very often, a great work of art comes our way. This allows us to experience and enjoy something powerful and, often, very rewarding.
Andrzej Ziolkowski’s extensive photo book, The Inward Moment. The Human Being and the Sacred, opens our eyes and introduces us to the beauty of the human spirit found in religious rituals in South East Asia. One hundred and fifty heart warming photographs spectacularly capture the human spiritual experience at its best. While doing so Andrzej’s unique method of photography does not invade the privacy of the worshiper, instead it displays the photographer’s utmost care and respect which are so often forgotten in this kind of photography.
Once you open the book and view the first photograph, you are immediately taken into another world which, at times, many of us have almost taken for granted. The spirit of this book captures us and forces us to rethink. It re-introduces us to the rich and wonderful cultures of South East Asia through the human beings facing the Sacred.
Martin Malgieri
Photohrapher
This book by the photographer Andrzej Ziolkowski is a work of art. It captures moments of people living in completely different cultures, celebrating and experiencing something that is dear to all of us – in the East and the West. Precisely because the images sometimes show something unusual and unfamiliar, our gaze lingers a little longer and we become aware of the presence of a Reality that is all too quickly lost to us in the routine of our everyday lives.
This album is a journey to the East. Once there, we realize how close we humans are to each other and how close the Sacred is to us. It is and remains absolutely immediate and yet, ordinary.
Thus, East-West Wisdom is alive not only in the book in front of us, but in our hearts.
Alexander Poraj-Zakiej
Zen master
It is a great book with fantastic photos where there is always something new to discover. I am sure that I will browse through it again and again. I hope that it will be well disseminated. You learn a lot from it, it opens up a world that many may not have known that it even exists.
Stefan Kein
Journalist, Writer