Visible to the Naked Eye

“If the doors of perception were cleansed 

every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. 

For man has closed himself up, 

till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.”
― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell 

“Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child 

 -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

 
― Thich Nhat Hanh

 

If the truth be told, I guess I've always been a freakin' Geek.  

 

As a youngster,  was curious about everything!  I wanted to know what was really going on -- and what to do about it. 

 

I was interested in most everything. The weather, stars, clouds, rocks, fossils, trees, and flowers fascinated me.  I spent hours observing bees, frogs, birds, squirrels, and other critters.  When I wasn't getting in trouble or being bored in elementary school, I loved learning just for the sake of learning. 

Although I had my nose in a book a lot, I also quite active.  I loved to do science.  I explored. I collected. I identified. I classified.  I took things apart to see how they worked.  

 

One morning, I found a broken box camera in the alley.  I immediately took it home and disassembled it.  I soon noticed that everything appeared to be upside down when I peered through one of the lenses.  WTF? Moments later, I discovered the world righted itself and was magnified when I lined up two of the lenses I had removed. Within a half an hour, I had made a simple telescope from the busted camera.  That night, I charted the position of the bright star that appeared outside my bedroom window.  With my science teacher's assistance, I learned that this star was actually the planet Jupiter.  I kept track of its change of position each night in my notebook-- until a new project appeared and captured my attention.  

 

Yet, although I was rewarded with stars and good grades and acknowledgment (when I wasn't sitting the corner or the hallway in school for not being able to sit still and keep my mouth shut), another arena of curiosity and exploration wasn't welcomed at all.  My earliest perceptions of the spiritual dimension of life were consistently ignored, avoided -- or squashed.  The adults in my life didn't seem to have a clue.

That should come as no surprise.  

 

Like most of you who may be reading this, I grew up in a culture immersed for centuries in a civilization steeped in scientific materialism.  Supercharged by a capitalist economy laced with white supremacy and a distorted and limited form of Christianity, the spiritual dimension of life was dismissed as superstition -- or  relegated to a "heaven" could only be experienced after death.  Even worse, this heaven was presented as  a "members only" destination, available only to those who believed certain specific things about the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth.  If, like the vast majority of human beings throughout the history of our species, a person believed differently, they were promised an eternity of extreme, torturous, suffering.  As a young child, this version of a God who was identified as Love never made sense to me.  (I think Jesus would probably still be turning over in his grave at such nonsense  -- if only he had stayed there.)

Lest Ye Be Like Children

 

At age 79, I'm still a Geek.  I continue to explore the spiritual dimension of life.  I still read, listen to numerous talks, and most importantly, I continue to meditate.  For the past 35 years I've done so almost daily.  So, I've scrubbed my doors of perception -- a lot.  It's been very helpful.  The things that used to tie me up in knots and drive me crazy, just don't anymore.

 

Why?

 

At this stage of the journey, I get a taste of the miraculous nature of life most every day.  I've found that when I remember to come into the present moment and engage my life with an open heart and a clear mind, I am aware of a dimension of being that permeates everything.  In being fully present, I experience a Presence.  In what spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle calls the Eternal Now, Reality asserts itself -- and it glows.  Contrary to what some folks may believe, Heaven is right here in our midst. 

 

Although I didn't have a way to conceptualize or express it, I sensed this reality as a kid.  (You probably did, too. )

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