Recently, I had a consciousness-changing event in my life when I went in for cataract surgery. I did not fully understand what that meant, except that the lens of the eye becomes clouded and can be replaced with a lens that clears the opacity and improves impaired vision. This degradation of sight usually happens later in life and occurs so gradually that one is not always aware of how much vision has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I came out of surgery and had my first examination a few days later, I was amazed at the brightness of the world. The unoperated eye could be compared with the operated eye, and the difference from what I had become accustomed to seeing was astonishing. The world was far brighter than I had perceived. Not only was color improved, but now I could see into the distance clearly, with details I had missed before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bougainvillea had once appeared deep red, but now I saw its brilliant magenta. The dull blue sky, which I thought was full of desert sand and perhaps the promise of rain, was now a bright, calm blue. Mountains that had once appeared misty and obscure became subtle palettes of lavender, with clear delineations between the peaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Children take this vision for granted, but their immature consciousness may not grasp its significance. Those whose eyesight has gradually been degraded by cataracts can begin to assume that dullness and vague perception are normal vision. Even with the correction of glasses, the full impact of diminished eyesight may not register in their consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen one has eyes to see\u2026\u201d is an aphorism I have heard before, but I had never associated it with the degeneration of physical vision. Spiritually, it refers to an enlightenment of reality when a deeper truth is revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could not help pondering how the world can appear so differently to so many pairs of eyes. How we think and feel toward our environment is affected by the lens through which we view the world. Aphorisms, inspirational phrases, and metaphors often express spiritual truths that can guide behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can be \u201cshort-sighted,\u201d failing to look ahead or anticipate consequences. Or we can focus so closely on details that we fail to perceive the larger picture, as expressed in the metaphor, \u201cYou can\u2019t see the forest for the trees.\u201d When you are too close to a situation, looking only at the individual trees, you may need to step back and gain a broader perspective. Only then do you become aware of the whole forest that was there all along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cataracts can become a metaphor for our worldview. Humanity can view this world through a clouded lens, seeing it as doomed to darkness, shadowy designs leading toward planetary extinction, and a defeated world overwhelmed by humanity\u2019s destructive, ignorant, and self-serving nature. On the other hand, and just as unrealistically, we can look through a \u201crose-colored lens\u201d of positive evolution while remaining unaware of the relationships between human behavior and its consequences for the political, ecological, and economic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither provides a clear lens of observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another meaning of cataract<\/em> is a great rush of water, such as a waterfall. It suggests to me the decisive flow of light that can suddenly change vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we grow older, our views can become clouded by a history of ill-informed circumstances, perpetuated by half-truths learned from peers and family members who themselves may have been no wiser. There can be a gradual awakening to reality, but insight also can occur with suddenness, sometimes following tragic or unpredictable circumstances\u2014just as a waterfall can become a cauldron of seething currents as it plunges into an otherwise undisturbed pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The science of vision is complex, ranging from complete loss of sight to color blindness, blind spots, visual diseases, cataracts, and astigmatism. In cataract surgery, the clouded natural lens is removed and replaced, allowing light to be focused more clearly and vision to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we evolve, our inner vision changes, even as our physical vision may diminish. Perhaps the path toward enlightenment is also an evolution of consciousness\u2014an increasing ability to perceive the inner light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Spiritual Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe heart is the telescope of the soul, and the eyes are the telescope of the heart. Just as when seeing through spectacles it is the eyes that see, not the spectacles, so when seeing through the heart and the eyes, what sees is the soul. The eyes have no power to see; the eyes have only the power to help the soul to see. The moment the soul departs the eyes do not see. And so even the heart is a telescope, which helps one to perceive and to conceive, all that one seeks. Yet at the same time, the heart does not see; it is the soul that sees.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I had a consciousness-changing event in my life when I went in for cataract surgery. I did not fully understand what that meant, except that the lens of the eye becomes clouded and can be replaced with a lens that clears the opacity and improves impaired vision. This degradation of sight usually happens later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeannerossstudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}