What your face says

The law of karma says that actions have consequences. Some are visible immediately; others take longer. Some are as clear as the expression on your face. Others are more subtle.

Photos published in Shambhala Times of participants in dathun, a month-long meditation retreat in the Shambhala tradition, show the effects of four weeks of silent meditation.

Photographer Peter Seidler offered this comment:
This series of photos, titled “Before and After,” comes from a larger project called “Contemplatives,” a visual exploration of the physiological qualities of meditation practice. I set up the “Before and After” project to explore the observable effects on practitioners after long periods of intense meditation practice.

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Dutch photographer Claire Felicie shares the fascination with how experience is manifested in faces. But her subjects were 20 Dutch Marines, who were photographed before, during, and after their 12-month assignment to Afghanistan. Again, the faces tell a story.

Writing for Slate's photo blog, Heather Murphy comments:

No this was not a perfectly controlled scientific experiment, but there is no science to walking into a room, looking into a friend's face, and immediately knowing that something has happened.



What does your face say? Do you hold tension in your jaw, your forehead, around your eyes? Does knowing that give you information about yourself?

Look at the faces of the people you see -- what do their faces tell you about their lives, how they meet challenges?