They’re designed for it.
Even with your eyes closed you can see light. Even with your hands covering your closed eyes you can see light. Some kind of light. If you close both of your eyes and cover one eye with one hand and pet your cat with the other hand you will notice the difference between one covered closed eye and one uncovered closed eye.
The purpose of these experiments is to demonstrate how sensitive our eyes are to light, they want to see. They can see in a completely perfectly dark cave. They’ll see the static, they’ll see the background noise, the optic nerve idling, yearning to see something.
Even when we’re asleep we see a version of light - dreams. Those images are not ‘real’ but still we can see them. The vision is happening in our brain, where all vision happens. It’s just light and electricity until it gets to our brain.
Newborns see but what they see has no meaning, nothing identifiable, not yet anyways but they’re learning every day. How to match patterns and make cross references. That words mean pictures. Slowly the shapes start to mean something. Before, what was only a shape, is now a tree. Before, what was only an amorphous sound source, is now its mother.
Our eyes are instruments of light, the first primordial force. “And God said ‘Let there be light. And there was light.’” That was the first thing He created. “And God saw the light, that it was good.” Very good. Now we can see something.
The old Hindu Upanishads creation story begins in a similar manner to the Hebrew’s, “The earth was without form and void.” In the Hindu version it says: “In the beginning there was nothing whatsoever.” And then proceeds: “Let it have a mind,” or, “let it awaken.” Very similar. Light - Consciousness - Awakeness. I get it.
So what does it mean to be enlightened? That’s an honest question, I don’t know. If there is light all around us and in us, are we not enlightened already? Or does it have some deeper spiritual meaning, like to see beyond the form and the named object to something that is universal, to see the oneness of all things maybe?
Maybe we’re already enlightened when we see the light and we’re not bothered by our problems anymore. Maybe the light is a beacon shining in all people when they smile.
Moonlight, sunlight, shadow has light otherwise how could you see it, starlight, dusk and dawn light are all different but the same. What happens to light when you die? Do you see more of it or less? Do you become light?
Not to make light of the subject but I think we should all lighten up a little. Light is a primary constituent of the universe. You can’t go faster than the speed of light. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine” was a Sunday School favorite of mine when I was 4.
Our eyes collect 80% of the information we use to orient ourselves in the world. Something like that. Not sure what the exact number is.
It’s alot.
Podcast soundtrack by D-Echo Project. Thank you for the amazing music! ‘A Foz e a Cítara’. Clink the link for their bandcamp site.
eyes see light