Averted Vision

By Jenn Weinshenker

Often when we are looking straight on at a thing our perspective becomes so narrow the truth we seek and the reality we see are totally out of focus. And the harder we try, to speak the sweetest prayer or be the harmony of a breath, the more we try to hold onto that instant of the awareness of the unity we share with all of life is to grasp. It is only by letting go of the important of our intellect, and the achievements we have cultivated that we will find purpose and peace and most importantly experience the beauty of balance and neutrality in the rhythm of all things.

Whether it is the sound wavelength of the air fluttering through the wings of a firefly or the intensity of its flame; what distinguishes one thing from another is merely the relative definition we have used to describe its form or function. In truth objects are not isolated and unaffected by each other. They are an infinite series of elemental probabilities, velocities and frequencies that invariably carry with them the traces of everything they are swirling in, around and through.

If I begin to understand that all of what we see and think and feel touches us and we touch right back. I was talking with a friend about this recently. The most laidback, loving Newfoundland was sitting on the floor in between us. We were seated in chairs and talking about how connected every thing is. And I explained that you are a loving person and I am a loving person and this is a loving creature and we are all thoroughly enjoying this moment and if anyone walked into this house they would also sense a calmness here. Because all of everything brings something to the table.

If this dog was unpredictable and the person sitting across from me was agitated the feelings I would be experiencing and emitting would be quite different. The challenge for me would be to find the most harmonious rhythm and bring that to the energy of this different situation. Wed like to try to find ways to determine outcomes when we are conflicted within ourselves. We would like to be certain of the effect our actions will have and what will that mean. But there are too many variables. And there always will be. Because wherever there is a push there is also a pull. The energy flows. All of the time. In smaller increments than we can possibly understand. But none-the-less, that is true.

So there must be another was to focus on reality so that things are more in focus.

Recently, a neighbor who enjoys looking at the planets and stars invited me over to look at Saturn and talk about its rings and axis and
oh,
by the way,
Have you ever seen a Globular Cluster? The question at first struck me funny because I couldnt tell you what I was thinking a half an hour ago so to be able to conceive of being able to know that for sure snagged my curiosity.

I dont think I have.

He lined one up in the telescope and talked with me about a technique of seeing called, Averted Vision. Apparently, when you have a cloud of stars circulating through a vast atmosphere in between you will see more if you look just to the side of it. Your eyes take in more light from the sides and once you get used to practicing this technique, the more you will notice going on around you. Your perspective will actually change and your interpretation of the exact same things you will comprehend in a complete new way.

How fascinating I thought. Wait, let me think about that a minute, and we sat there looking at the stars and I thought, even in nature, even so far away, the same fundamental truths apply. The key is being able to let go of the obvious, right in front of your face facts and look beyond your self so that you may grasp the beauty and preciousness of life, of this moment, of this second. When we learn how to do this, when we let go of trying to hold onto the orbit we swirl around in and we look a little further out and away from our immediacy; we will be able to let go of what we think we should be, or what we think we should do and all of the insecurities and impulses to control or throw away that go along with that simple little thought and we will be able to fully be in the moment and find a way to make peace with it.

We change. People around us change. Circumstances in life change. But love, compassion and reality remain a constant. A beautiful constant. How we balance out what we want and what we can offer and what we will need to let go of will most certainly determine how we live and who we are. This is after all, elemental.

Contact the author at Jweinshenker@ltsaloon.org

2009 Jenn Weinshenker. All Rights Reserved.