Seeing Through the Illusion

This physical world seems all too real to us and can lead us to believe this is all there is. Many spiritual teachers would say that the physical world is nothing but an illusion. Although everything around us looks and feels solid enough, it is not solid at all. What we see and perceive around us only promotes the illusion of separation and duality. Everyone and everything that we experience seems separate from us, which is far from the truth. There are only two ways of seeing the world. The first is through the eyes of judgement, separation, fear and the belief in duality. The second is through the eyes of forgiveness, oneness, and love, knowing that duality is only an illusion.

It may seem strange, but the only way to get past the illusion is to really BE in this world. To see everything and everyone around us with new eyes and new senses. We think we see, taste, smell, touch and hear everything as it truly is. However, we all use past experience to judge our world. We see people and we compare them to similar people we have met. We see circumstances and we compare those to similar circumstances we have experienced. We do not really see anything around us for what it truly is.

I’ve been practicing just being present and aware and I’ve been doing my best to see without comparing. Every blade of grass, flower, butterfly, bee and mosquito is unique. I realize how much I am missing by assuming I’ve already experienced everything and all that is needed is to draw from my experiences. I have found that when I really sit with something and see it for what it is without judgement, it is a blissful feeling. I remember feeling that way when I was a young child. I was aware of everything around me, just walking down a road and seeing every little crack and crevis fascinated me. I was really in the moment with that road.

I am also doing my best to see without the need to label everything. Labeling is another way of judging and only perpetuates the illusion of separation. Seeing past the illusion is the first step to a world of complete oneness. Strive to be in this world but not of this world.