To see beyond the vision of eyes

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. - Pete Cohen

I wish all Sri Lankans health, happiness, and peace of mind for year 2012. In this new year, I also wish for my readers at least to resolve themselves' to see beyond the vision of eyes'.

In the very distant future - about a trillion years in to the future - humans would have long since abandoned physical form and they would most probably exist as energy entities spanning space.

A couple of billion years later or thereabout, planet earth, our colonies on the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere within this system; the entire solar system as we know it today; would be swallowed up by an expanding sun - a dying sun.

Inanition

Like all things animate and inanimate, the sun too would eventually die through inanition.

Nothing is eternal. Like the sun gods - the Pharoas - of Egypt who, in death, took all things they loved and cherished to their pyramidal tombs; the sun too, before its final death, will engulf its solar system into its dance of death; and lead us to demise, even though it cherished us, and gave life, as long as it lived.

Many of my readers will not be able to see the truth of what I am saying, for they see not beyond the vision of their eyes and the visible spectrum of light.

To see beyond the vision of eyes is an ability that requires intelligence, intellect, knowledge, and wisdom.

Vision per se may refer to a: Visual Perception - interpreting what is seen; Visual System - the sensory mechanism of eyesight; Vision - an inspirational experiences; or Hallucination - vivid conscious perception in the absence of a stimulus. Of course, there is also the X-ray that all of us are familiar with, and the X-ray vision of science fiction.

Although called X-ray vision, this power has little to do with the actual effect of X-rays. Instead, it is most of the time presented as the ability to, selectively, see through certain objects as though they are invisible, translucent, or not present.

Superman

The most famous possessor of this ability is the iconic superhero character Superman, with whom most of us are familiar through Comics' books or the films named after him.

The Human Visual System is tricky.

There are two components: the eye, which is the easy part to understand, and our perception of our eyes' signals as processed by our brains.

We only "see" after our brains interpret what is sent to them from our eyes. Our eyes do not send images to our brains.

Images are constructed in our brains based on very simple signals sent from our eyes.

The mental processing required to perceive images is so great that it represents a lot of the body's at-rest caloric consumption.

This is why it is so resting to close our eyes for a moment. Hence, "seeing" is a very complex higher-order brain function; and a huge percentage of our brain, probably the largest, in fact, of any brain function is required for doing nothing other than recognize what is in front of us. That is why, many of us "see" but do not perceive that which we see.

To perceive is to become aware of directly through any of the senses, especially sight or hearing; but also by feel, taste, or smell. However, perception is also: to achieve understanding of, to apprehend with the mind.

We perceive, primarily, what is presented through the senses.

We apprehend what is presented to the mind, whether through the senses or by any other means. Hence, that which we apprehend we catch, as with the hand; that which we conceive, we are able to analyse and recompose in our mind; that which we comprehend we, as it were, grasp around, take together, seize, embrace wholly within the mind.

Thus, to see beyond the vision of eyes requires perception, and then the ability to apprehend that which we perceive; then conceive and comprehend.

It is no wonder that, not many "see" beyond the vision of their eyes. For them, it is too much of an effort - complex and complicated.

Carl Gustav Jung (1875 - 1961), better known as Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of analytical psychology said: "who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens".

Knowledge

Thus, the ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained.

Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and self-deception, would this not constitute a real revolution in culture?

It is clear that if we are to live in harmony with ourselves, others, and with nature; we need to be able to communicate freely in a creative movement in which no one permanently holds to or otherwise defends his own ideas. Why then is it so difficult actually to bring about such communication?

It is because we fail to see beyond our senses; failed to develop our intellect; and, fail to see beyond the vision of eyes.

To perceive is to suffer said Aristotle, the Greek philosopher.

Perceptions

Yes, in many ways it is true. To "see", is easy; but to go beyond and to know, understand, and accept, is not easy. It may require many adjustments to the innumerable pre-conceptions within us; it requires us to modify and adjust our outlook. In short, we must be willing to change, and humans generally fear change.

Change is equated with uncertainty; uncertainty with fear; fear leads to inaction; inaction becomes inability. To lead a life of contentment, one needs to see beyond what one sees, to bridge the known and the unknown.

People are shaped, and differ from each other, because their perceptions, and their thought processes differ.

Yet, with a developed intellect, it becomes easy to bridge the gap between the known and unknown.

To do this, as it is with to do all good things in life, it requires investment in effort and sacrifice.

It is sad to note that many Sri Lankans are neither willing to make the effort nor the sacrifice to achieve this. They would rather continue suffering in life and attribute it to some past karma, without realizing that the Buddha said: "I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma.

Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought." (Anguttara Nikaya) Karma does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both past and present deeds.

Result

Hence, in one sense, we are the result of what we were; we will be the result of what we are.

In another sense, we are not totally the result of what we were; we will not absolutely be the result of what we are.

The present is no doubt the offspring of the past and is the present of the future, but the present is not always a true index of either the past or the future; so complex is the working of Karma. See you this day next week. Until then,keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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