I had thirty minutes to deliver the keynote speech. Not a minute more. The timing was etched in stone, and I was informed, multiple times, that I must not go over my limit.
The event was a big healthcare conference where dignitaries from around the world would be speaking on various advances in their particular domains.
When I entered the conference hall and saw a huge clock over the entranceway, I realized my speech would be dead-on thirty minutes … there was no way I could miss that clock when I got up on the stage.
As I was introduced, walked up on the stage, and began speaking – I realized immediately that I was in big trouble. The giant clock that was unmistakably clear upon entering the hall was now a fuzzy blur at the back of the room. I’ve never worn a watch, and now I was flying totally blind.
That was the precise moment I realized that my vision was no longer 20-20 and that I probably ought to have my eyes examined.
One trip to the optometrist confirmed my suspicion. But what surprised me most was how incredibly clear and distinctly edged the world became once I was fitted with corrective lenses. I had no idea that my vision had slipped – it had been so subtle over so many years that I never appreciated the decline. Yet, when I put on that first pair of glasses, I couldn’t believe how spectacularly vivid everything now appeared.
I had been lulled into a false sense of “seeing” – one that I apparently found acceptable and not needing to be challenged, that is, until my panic-moment at the healthcare conference.
And so it is while we see through the lens of the ego. We believe what we see, and devise endless plans to enhance what we look upon.
Your idea of what seeing means is tied up with the body and its eyes and brain. Thus you believe that you can change what you see by putting little bits of glass before your eyes. This is among the many [ego] beliefs that come from the conviction you are a body, and the body’s eyes can see. (W-pI.92.1)
From such a perspective, we blindly acquiesce without questioning if there is another (better) way of seeing.
What would you see? The choice is given you. But learn and do not let your mind forget this law of seeing: You will look upon that which you feel within. If hatred finds a place in your heart, you will perceive a fearful world, held cruelly in death’s sharp-pointed, bony fingers. If you feel the Love of God within you, you will look out on a world of mercy and of love. (W-pI.189.5)
The purpose of all seeing is to show you what you wish to see. (W-pI.161.2)
When we look through the lens of the ego, we see a separated, vengeful, and frightening world – perhaps with brief moments of respite – but with a bitter, certain end.
Yet when we choose the other way a seeing, through the lens of spirit, we look upon an innocence, strength, and love with an indescribable sense of joy and brotherly union, infinitely endless … spectacularly clear.
Join us in Monday’s class where we’ll discuss these two ways of seeing – one that exacerbates pain and suffering, and another that leads to wondrous peace and happiness. And I’ll share how that 30-minute keynote concluded. I look forward to seeing you then.