Opening your eyes to the world

We see only a fraction of the world in front of our eyes. As we walk along a road our sight is inundated with a multitude of different stimuli. We need only perceive a small amount of this information to assemble a picture of the world around us but it is important to remember that the picture you create depends upon the fragments that you have used for your perception. This means that it is very unlikely that it will be identical to anyone else's view of the same scene.

It is possible to catch a glimpse of the totality of what is in front of your eyes but only to a very limited degree. What you have to do is choose something 'simple', like a blade of grass, and concentrate your attention only and completely upon it. This is a wonderful exercise which helps you to realise that a blade of grass is not as 'simple' as you thought. Then you expand your awareness to realise the complexity of a small area of lawn. The expansion can then be increased to take in successively greater areas. One of the attributes of this exercise is to instil a feeling of humility in yourself. I do not mean by this that you should put yourself down but I do mean that you realise the importance of each blade of grass, each insect, each inanimate object and their complexities and richness and diversity.


