Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Perception, Consciousness, and the Value of Seeing Beyond The Self



The thing about perception is that by its very nature, it distills, narrows and squeezes reality down to mentally consumable chunks. Much like the aperture of a sophisticated camera, it functions automatically, without thought, to prevent overexposure of our consciousness. It turns and adjusts to the correct width to cast an image or an impression on the mind. Without perception, our minds would be inundated with information. At best, the image would not be clearly defined. At worst, we would be staring at a thousand-headed beast, speaking a hundred different languages at once, preaching dozens of doctrines, casting both light and darkness from each eye.

Consciousness is then the self recognizing that it is aware of itself and everything else that is not the self. It is the Big, honking "I am here!", the ever-assured "There are things here that are not me!", and the judgment churning machine that evaluates, measures, and inflates or deflates meaning. To be conscious is to admit to yourself that you are actively participating in thought. It is to be aware, or more accurately, to be aware of being aware.

But aware of what?

All too often, because it is easy, we default to being solely aware of our experience. Sadly, this is where we also go astray. Being too bound up in our tiny experience tends to put the blinders on. Our experience engulfs all others. We become unable to see the other and the world for what it is. The results of this narrowed scope can fall anywhere from indifference to full-on destruction.

If one was to attempt to find a commonality in the varied teachings of the great spiritual leaders of the past 2500 years, it would be this- See beyond yourself, to the great _____, and the world will be a better place. For Confucious (Kong Qiu), the _____ would be tradition, family, and leading the ethical life. For the Buddha (Siddhattha Gotama), the _____ would be his Dhamma which is the understanding the shared suffering in the world and its impermanence, learning to let go, thus turning away from the self (non-self) with the goal of reaching the other shore of Nirvanna (Nibanna).  For Jesus, the _____ would be the Kingdom of God, whether in this life or beyond, by breaking bread with others, caring for the sick and standing up to corrupt systems. For Muhammad, the _____ would be recognizing the one true God, submission to God, the observance of ritual and prayer, and acts of kindness.

The common thread that weaves its way through these different patchworks of belief is goodness:

Confucious ~ Humaneness
The Buddha ~ Compassion
Jesus ~ Love
Muhammad ~ Righteousness (Love)

Let us now recognize something else that must have certainly been shared, which is what these teachings hoped to combat. It is the ever-present, default mode. The self with blinders on. The self only concerned with itself. We can't walk in their shoes, but we can certainly assume that something dug at them. They, among countless others, over time and to this day, were sensitive enough to have perceived these ugly truths and found a path out. Perhaps, they were just in the right place at the right time, or they had that rare gift to share their truth with others, or if you are religious, they were the messengers or prophets of those unseen gears behind the curtains.

This post is not about being religious. It is not really even about being good. I only bring up these great teachers to reflect a tradition of thought that has shaped our societies and to show a common thread between them.

What then is this post about? It is about this- I don't care how you do it, but please look beyond yourself. If being religious is that ticket, then punch that card and hop aboard. If building community and helping out your neighbors gives you that wholesome feeling, then drive right in. If expressing yourself through art, music, words or teaching feels like a calling, then shout it out. At the very least, if a highly contagious, variable virus is spreading in your community then put on a mask, keep your distance and spend more time alone.

I don't know when our next spiritual teacher will arrive, but the world is in desperate need. Perhaps, everything that needed to be taught has already been taught and as such, we simply need to point our mind-cameras to the light, adjust the aperture, and sear an image into the consciousness. Maybe, just maybe, this novel coronavirus is the teacher. It locks us in rooms, revealing ugly truths, forcing us to examine how we take care of ourselves and others, generating both bone-chilling fear of death and bright-eyed hope for better days. 













 

1 comment:

  1. Hi everyone,I’m so excited my husband is back after he left me for another woman. My husband was having an affair with a co-worker and i love my husband so much but he was cheating on me with his co-worker and this girl i think she use witchcraft or black magic on my husband to make him hate me and this was so critical and uncalled-for, I cry all day and night for God to send me a helper to bring back my husband! I was really upset and I needed help, so I searched for help online and I came across a website that suggested that Dr.Wealthy can help get an ex-boyfriend back fast. So, I felt I should give him a try. I contacted him and he told me what to do and I did it, then he did a love spell for me. 22hours later, my husband really called me and told me that he missed me so much, Oh My God! I was so happy, and today I am happy with my man again and we are joyfully living together and I thank the powerful spell caster Dr.Wealthy, he is so powerful and I decided to share my story here. if you are here and your Lover is turning you down, or your husband moved to another woman, do not cry anymore, contact Dr.Wealthy for help now..Here’s his email, wealthylovespell@gmail.com
    He also do the following spell
    Pregnancy spell
    Love spell
    Penis enlargement spell
    herpes
    Winning spell
    His WhatsApp +2348105150446

    ReplyDelete