Eye of an ant and the body of an elephant

Living without the power of sight is hard to imagine. Those tiny apertures just a few millimeters across, are such a great gift, adding immense value to our lives. We take them for granted until sight starts to fail us. Our lives start in the darkness of the womb and ends when the curtain like eyelids close for the final time. In between we experience light, without which nothing would be visible. The opening and closing of this grand drama is not only played out over many years, but daily as well. When we sleep, we enter the womb of our own consciousness. The entryway is through darkness. Our consciousness is very much alive, but we are unaware of it. As soon as we awaken, that communion with our own consciousness within is instantly overpowered by light that reflects off the world of objects. That inner light emanating from our own consciousness is never seen, and thought to be non existent.

Self consciousness

From a very young age we are taught not to be self conscious. We are encouraged to project outward confidence. All the senses are geared to look externally and seek out the world. The mind is kept very busy through its constant engagement with the sense organs. Slowly over time, we conclude that reality is that which exists outside of us. We ignore what lurks within the darkness behind the visible part of the mind and what’s behind the functioning of each individual cell. On a physical level cells and organs are continuously functioning. We seldom pay attention to them until an illness strikes. The attention of the mind is quickly diverted from the external world to the illness within the body. Through the lens of illness, there is constant awareness of the living reality that the human body is. But this awareness is chained to the body and cannot go beyond it. Only when the body is rendered “invisible” through deeper introspection with constant awareness, self consciousness takes a positive turn. When limited to the body, it turns negative and is ultimately a dead end. The mind has convinced us that there is nothing beyond the body, which becomes a virtual starting point from which the mind pushes us outwards.