Learning to See

 From seeing to Seeing

Developing the Depth and Clarity of Perception.

Our perspective and perception creates and changes our world.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust).

“If one wants to see a thing very clearly, one’s mind must be very quiet, without all the prejudices, the chattering, the dialogue, the images, the pictures – all that must be put aside to look.” (Krishnamurti)

Living with Open Hands as an expression of an Open Mind, Open Heart, and Open Will inevitably leads to learning to See and Hear with the heart past the surface level facade to the heart behind the facade, behind the words and actions of individuals and systems. This gives us a Way to See more clearly, more inclusively, more whole-istically, more deeply, more insightfully, and more extensively.

For me, this growth process has helped me express a paradigm shift that has affected my whole life for most of my life: 

From seeing with my eyes to Seeing with my heart to Seeing with the eyes of the brokenhearted; Seeing life from the bottom, from the edges, from the margins. (for more, check out my late blog post)

As I write, I’ve been contemplating a concept that has taken root a number of years ago. I have noticed in myself that there are different levels of seeing. So several years ago, I started using two written versions of  the word: seeing and Seeing.

There is seeing with the eyes or Seeing with the heart.

We can hear with the ears or Hear (Listen) with the heart.

When we listen to a person speak, no matter what they say, do we listen to the heart behind the words?

When we hear a song, whether we like it or not, do we listen to the creative expression, the heart behind the music?

When we look at a painting or a sculpture, do we look at it and through it to the heart of the artist?

When we hear a poem, do we listen for the heart that created it?

When we dialogue with someone of differing beliefs and values, do we look to the heart behind those beliefs and values?

“It is the ability to see beauty in all of life’s circumstances that gives our lives meaning.” (Victor Frankl)

In his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Victor Frankl describes a bowl of filthy water with a fish head floating in it, given to him by his Nazi captors in a concentration camp during WWII. He trained himself to see beauty in this meal, rather than focus on the horror of it. He attributed his ability to see beauty anywhere as a vital factor in surviving those horrific camps. He reminds us that if we focus on what’s ugly, we attract more ugliness into our thoughts, and then into our emotions, and ultimately into our lives. By choosing to hang on to one’s corner of freedom even in the worst situations, we can process our world with the energy of appreciation and beauty, and create an opportunity to transcend our circumstances.

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First we must look intently

with all of our heart,

with a pure heart

(free of bias and judgment).

Then and only then will we begin to See.

Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention, p. 28

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“Little round planet

In a big universe

Sometimes it looks blessed

Sometimes it looks cursed

Depends on what you look at obviously

But even more it depends on the way that you see” 

(Bruce Cockburn, Child of the Wind)

I have noticed in myself that I have ways of seeing that are different at different times. Am I seeing with the eyes or Seeing with the heart? May I not waltz through life without “Seeing”.

“As a blind man, I think that I see a lot better than I did when I was sighted because I don’t really think we see with our eyes. I think we live in darkness when we don’t look at what’s real about ourselves, about others, or about life. No operation can do that. When you see what’s real about yourself, you see a lot. And you don’t need eyes for that.” (At First Sight 1999 Val Kilmer)

“I am learning to see. I don’t know why it is, but everything enters me more deeply and doesn’t stop where it once used to. I have an interior that I never knew of. Everything passes into it now. I don’t know what happens there.” (Rainer Maria Rilke, from “The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge,” 1910)

https://ronirvine.wordpress.com/seeing/

https://ronirvine.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/seeing-with-the-heart/ 

https://ronirvine.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/seeing-beauty/ 

Seeing with the Heart 

Living life with open hands is an outward expression

of the inner work

of opening the heart, mind, and will.

This opening up requires open eyes and open ears

that see and hear with the heart

. . . a “Seeing” (and “Hearing”) that goes beneath the surface of

actions, reactions, and interactions,

habits and conditioned responses,

mental models and assumptions,

. . . to the heart below the surface.

With this openness, we “See”

with new eyes at a deeper level

into ourselves, other people, organizations,

communities, and systems.

This inner work is then expressed outwardly

by living with open hands;

welcoming others and life,

giving and receiving openly,

living in community.

Living with open hands

is not a series of notions

nor is it a system of belief.

It is a way …

expressing oneself in action.

It is a way …

a spiritual discipline that can deepen the spiritual life

It is a way …

expressing oneself clearly and visibly in

integrity, equality, simplicity, community, and peace.

See or Perish

“One could say that the whole of life lies in seeing — if not ultimately, at least essentially. To be more is to be more united — and this sums up and is the very conclusion of the work to follow. But unity grows, and we will affirm this again, only if it is supported by an increase of consciousness, of vision. That is probably why the history of the living world can be reduced to the elaboration of ever more perfect eyes at the heart of a cosmos where it is always possible to discern more. Are not the perfection of an animal and the supremacy of the thinking being measured by the penetration and power of synthesis of their glance? To try to see more and to see better is not, therefore, just a fantasy, curiosity, or a luxury. See or perish. This is the situation imposed on every element of the universe by the mysterious gift of existence. And thus, to a higher degree, this is the human condition.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

A Hasidic Tale

A rabbi asked his disciples, "When is the hour that day comes? What is that moment when night becomes day?" One disciple said, "When one can tell an ox from a donkey?" Another said, "When one can tell an olive tree from a grape vine?" The rabbi said, "It is when you can look in the face the 'other' and see your brother or your sister. Until then we continue in darkness."