It is believed that 20% of what we see is objective data and the rest is a projection, biased by our thoughts and emotions. Neuroscientists highlight that the electrical impulses that reach our retina must also interact with the thinking and the emotional parts of the brain. Thus, we don’t see a mosaic of blue, white and colorless space, but sky and clouds.
As French author Anais Nin said, “We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are” — our thoughts and emotions project their own hues and colors to whatever we observe. We are also quick to dole out intrinsic qualities to things and people, thinking “this is beautiful, that is ugly,” without being cognizant of the fact that these attributes are assigned by our mind. As a Buddhist verse says: “Is anything on earth universally and unanimously recognized as beautiful? For a lover, a beautiful woman is an object of desire; for the hermit, a distraction; for the wolf, a good meal.”
As we gain deeper insight, we learn that the smallest units of energy are just in free flow thought it all. We create a three-dimensional world from what is a continuum of free flowing energy, comprising of electrons and neutrons. Like the fish in the Chinese saying, when we cannot see this continuum, we notice the separate parts of the creation the trees, the animals, the objects —as disjointed from us, which in turn make us feel separate from the whole. The question is would a tree falling in a forest make any sound, if there was no one to hear it? It’s our presence and perception that gives way to the formation of reality as observed by us.
What is the truth then and how do we experience it? The powerful thing is that among all the living beings, only human beings have the ability to comprehend and experience this reality. We can get initiated into grasping this reality by starting to reach out to our inner awareness.
This inner awareness is not the mind, nor our thoughts; it’s the consciousness which allows us to observe the mind, and our thoughts and emotions. It’s this awareness which allows us to remember parts of a dream even when we are asleep.
