A new-born baby cannot see well because she has to gain the ability to focus her eyes and keep them on the object steadily for some time in order to see something clearly. Similarly, all humans have an inner eye, and we need to gain the ability to focus it. Once we gain this skill, we will have the ability to see the truth better and more clearly.
With our outer eyes, we see the immediate world in front of us. But with the inner eye, we see a much larger world. The inner eye sees things that are invisible to the outer eyes. Although they are real to the inner eye, they will be unreal to someone who can see only with the outer eyes.
There are numerous references in the Bible to the inner eye.
l For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5
l Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. Numbers 22:31
l And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17
l Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:31
In all these contexts, the reference is not to the outer eyes, but to the inner eye.
Those with the inner eye open are called wise in the Bible, and those with them closed are called fools. They are like the foolish man who built a house on sand. Their life, built on a superficial view of life, won’t withstand the powerful hurricanes in life.
Jesus claimed that only the pure in heart will be able to see God (Mat 5: 8). Also he complained that a lot of people couldn’t see even if they had eyes, or couldn’t hear even if they had ears to hear. What Jesus meant was that although they had outer eyes, their inner eye was blind. He often ended his parables with the affirmation: He who has ears, let him hear! (Mat 13: 9)
In the parable of the sower, some seeds fell among the thorns. Jesus explains it further as: The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful (Mt. 13:22).
Jesus also taught: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (Mat 6: 25)
In all these places, Jesus affirms that if worries and other such negative feelings fill one’s mind, he/she cannot hope to have the inner eyes opened. This was the advice Jesus had to give to Martha. "Martha, Martha, You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41)
There are several other places where Jesus talks about eyes and vision.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Mat 7: 3-5)
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mat 6:22-23)
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9: 39-41)
It seems that the inner eye will remain blind unless we make a conscious effort to clear the mind by removing anxieties, guilt-feelings, fears, and worries. As the mind gets clearer of all such dark feelings and thoughts, the inner eye will begin to see.
Low and High Awareness
The metaphor of “inner eye” helps us to understand it in relation to the outer eye. We know that there is no such thing as an eye inside us. Let us try to understand it from a different angle. Our world is structured in such a way that smaller units combine to form bigger units. Thus a living being is made of cells. Actually each cell is a living being. There are unicellular living beings. A living being such as a cat or a dog or a man is actually a huge community of cells living together in a highly structured manner.
Let us think specifically about a human being. A human being is actually a huge community of cells (billions of them). Let us imagine that each neuron in my head has its own self-consciousness. Billions of them together form my brain, and they collectively give me my self-consciousness. Thus a neuron has two levels of consciousness—one of its own, and a higher level of collective consciousness.
We, human beings, collectively make higher units. The nature, which includes the human beings, animals, plants, air, earth, water, and sky, may be seen as a huge living being. We, human beings, may be seen as the neurons in its brain. Each individual human being has a self-consciousness that sees oneself separate from others. But we all have a higher level of collective consciousness, the self-consciousness of the nature. We will develop to this higher level of consciousness if we let our mind grow to that level. This growth is not a mere intellectual knowledge. It is a real awareness of oneness with everything. This oneness is felt not only with everything in the nature but also with what lies beyond and behind it, God.
This higher level of consciousness is probably what is referred to as the inner eye. This transition from lower consciousness to the higher consciousness is probably the new birth Jesus offered to Nicodemus. This seems to be the living water that Jesus offered to the woman of Samaria. This transition seems to be the bread of life Jesus offered to the people.
St. Paul made a distinction between those who live according to flesh and spirit, which seem to be the terms he uses for low and high consciousness.
l For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom 8: 5-6)
l Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Gal 5:16)
l And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12: 2)
l For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. (Rom 12: 4-5)
Paul also speaks about the old man and the new man.
Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. (Col 3: 9-15)
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. (Eph 1: 18)
James distinguishes between the wisdom from above and from below.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (James 3: 13-18)
The Two Steps to Higher Awareness
How do we grow to a higher level of awareness from a lower level? Or in other words, how do we get our inner eyes open? It seems there are two distinct steps in this process: thought-control and constructive thinking.
My thoughts are based on my present understanding of life, and my behavior is based on my thoughts. If thoughts keep on flowing in my mind ceaselessly, I have no control over them, and I will have no control over my life. Gaining control over my thoughts is probably the easiest way to let the mind free from the bondage of my understanding of life. Once my mind gains some freedom, it can pursue a new understanding and a new life. Thought-control can be achieved by being aware of our thoughts. This can be done by a daily exercise in which we free our mind from thoughts by consciously paying attention to them.
How we live our life is based on how we understand life. However our understanding does not immediately transfer to our behavior and actions. From our conscious mind, our understanding has to sink down to our subconscious mind, and has to become a part of our habit. Psychologists say that it takes a minimum of three weeks for this transition. My present life is based on my present understanding of life. Even if I gain a better understanding of life today, my life will still be governed by my previous understanding for some more time. Thus at least for three weeks, there will be a tug of war between my previous understanding and my new understanding. Thus, strengthening my new understanding is another thing I have to do if I am determined to have a new life. This can be done by spending time to constructively think, read, write, listen, and speak about the new understanding of life so that it can take deep roots.
The first step is thought-control in order to break away from the existing foundation of life. The next step is constructive-thinking in order to build a new foundation to life. Almost all the traditional religious systems have ways prescribed to undertake these two steps, such as meditation, scripture reading, chanting of hymns, prayer, fasting, and community worship. It may be compared to the movement of a foot when we walk. In order to move forward, we have to raise a foot from where it is now, and then place it a little forward. Raising our mind from its present understanding of life is like raising the foot from its present position. Placing the mind in a new understanding of life is like placing the foot a little forward. This process needs to continue in life endlessly. This is how we “walk” toward God.
A yogi from India uses the word meditation to mean making the mind quiet and calm. But in the Bible one reads about meditating the Scriptures. It seems that the eastern religions place more emphasis on the thought-control part of meditation, but the Semitic religions place more emphasis on the constructive-thinking part of meditation. But one can see that both types of meditations are complementary. Raising the foot and placing it forward are just two parts of walking. The Bible also speaks about the first part—keeping the mind still and quiet. “My soul waits in silence for God only” (Psalm 62:1). The soul is silent when it is free from thoughts. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1). Thirst of the soul for God may be considered as the first part of meditation, and the quenching of the thirst may be seen as the second part. The eastern religious tradition, in spite of giving emphasis to the first part, is not behind in constructive thinking. The various philosophical systems that sprang up in the soil of India and China are evidences of this.
Should we do the meditation as individuals or together as a group? Again, the eastern traditions seem to emphasize individual meditation, whereas the Semitic traditions emphasize community meditation. Within Christianity, the traditional churches place more stress upon community, but the protestant churches place more stress upon the individual. We are familiar with the picture of eastern solitary yogis meditating on mountaintops. From the Semitic traditions, we are more familiar with the picture of groups of people periodically getting together and engaging in various rituals. However, we can see both individual and community meditation in both eastern and Semitic traditions. Jesus used to spend much of his time alone with the Father in Heaven on mountaintops and other such places. Also he asked his disciples to enter a room, close the door, and pray to the Father in Heaven in private. Paul advises married couples to stay together except when they have to spend time with God alone. In spite of stressing solitary meditation, the eastern traditions have always practiced community meditation in various forms. Sangham in Buddhism is similar to the monastic communities in Christianity. Hinduism also has ashrams where monks stay together.
The truth is that we need both individual and community meditation. An individual has a life of his/her own, also he/she is a part of a community. Community is a support group where we get the opportunity to support and strengthen each other. Also a community has a life of its own. The Holy Communion is a form of community meditation. Traditionally, people get together weekly to affirm the God-centered worldview in the liturgical worship reenacting the events in the life of Jesus Christ. In the acted out metaphor of eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the participants become one with Christ so that like Paul they could say: It is no more I but Christ who lives in me. Not only as individuals, but as a community they become the visible body of the invisible Christ.
Back to Contents Page
No comments:
Post a Comment