Seeing

Awakened Sight Pathway 27.

     Continuing my exploration of Neil Douglas-Klotz’s “The Sufi Book of Life- 99 Pathways to the Heart” through art collage the next pathway introduces us to Awakened Sight. In my last post I delved into Awakened Hearing which asked us to consider experiencing our senses from a different perspective, from a Spiritual one. Awakened hearing asked us to receive beyond what we hear, beyond words, to hear the Universe through our own ears and not through what others believe it should sound like. It too can be a point of reconnection.

    Pathway 27, Awakened Sight, asks us to look beyond the thousands upon thousands of images that we are “bombarded” with every day. I know that sometimes I feel overloaded from the constant stream on social media, the news and in advertising. We spend a lot of time viewing life through a screen these days rather than experiencing life ourselves and seeing it with our own eyes. Which reminds me of a television commercial where a father and daughter are in a beautiful place such as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite and the daughter immediately reaches for her phone to take a picture. Dad stops her and says let’s just Be here now together in this moment.

     Rather than taking an image for face value look deeper, look into the eyes and connect with the light of the Universe that resides within us all. In the body prayer of Namaste you look into the eyes of another, connect with their light, and bow. This is a way of honoring the light within yourself and acknowledging and honoring the light within another. You are silently saying I see you and I recognize your divinity.

     If our eyes are the windows to our souls then give them every opportunity to see the Light of the Universe reflected back to you. You will never connect on a spiritual level to a plastic screen for it has no soul, no life. You are merely viewing not making a true connection.

    In my collage I chose a mandala image for the background as it is a tool for meditation. One follows the patterns with their eyes allowing the images to work on their unconscious mind. Your mind empty’s and becomes like a peaceful pool of water.

     In the lower right corner I have an example of a Taoist painting. The landscapes were of mountains and trees but it is the negative spaces between the images that the Taoists focused upon, the actual spiritual practice. These painting too were used for meditation. These were reflections of Taoist philosophy. The two fundamental principles of the Tao, the Path or Way, is absence and presence. The world is always in a state of change and renewal, things die and are absent and then something else arises, takes its place and is present. Thus there are two ways of seeing the world.

     The image of the white wolf and it’s intense amber eyes caught my attention just as the soft gentle eyes of the horse did. The white wolf,  thought of as a highly spiritual animal represents strength and solitude. His eyes simultaneously hold you in their gaze and draw you in. What wisdom do they hold?  He is a spiritual warrior and the great mystery is his territory.

     The horse with its gentle knowing eyes and beautiful long lashes asks you to look on life as a journey. He is the spirit of freedom and the bringer of messages. Horses act as a bridge between humans and spirit. If you have ever ridden at full gallop then you understand. Look into the eyes of all animals and you will see intelligence, you will see the light of consciousness. Honor them as you would another human being.

Namaste.