“When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit.”
– Takuan Soho, Zen Buddhist monk (1573-1645)
Dear Wise Women,
Last week’s Treasure Trove, “The Courage to Keep Looking” began with the following passage from Rumi:
“Don't turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That's where the light enters you.”
And continued with a famous verse from Leonard Cohen:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
I then asked a few questions:
What prevents us from looking at the broken parts?
Are we afraid of what we might find?
Do we feel unworthy of the light?
Together we vulnerably explored the truthful answers to these questions and, together, in a field of compassion and gratitude, we softened. We softened into self-love.
And it is softening that I wish to deepen into this week.
For there is a way to look, a way that activates compassion, opens the heart, and allows us to see beyond the limitations of our mind. A gentle way that gives us the courage to keep looking.
To see with “soft eyes” is to take in what is in front of us, rather than to project out. It is a completely different way of seeing. It is both a meditative practice and a way of being in the world that immediately activates presence. Soft eyes are curious, free of judgement, free of limitations and free of preconceptions. When we look with soft eyes we open ourselves to receive all that is visible and invisible in the field between us and what we are looking at.
To look with soft eyes is to alter the sensation in your eyes by relaxing the eyes and expanding your field of vision. When we look with soft eyes we actually modify the way we take in the physical world around us. The more we practice “soft eyes”, the more we become aware of “hard eyes”. Soft eyes see without filters, they receive with compassion and curiosity. Hard eyes project outward, they look with judgement, preconceptions and limitations. There is a method of seeing with soft eyes (see below).
But the practice is not limited to our physical eyes, we can also soften how we see through the mind’s eye. We can become aware of how we are looking at our thoughts, images and ideas about ourselves and we can notice, are we looking with hard eyes or soft eyes? If hard, we can soften our inner gaze.
Likewise, when we read about an event in the world or see an image, we can notice how both our physical and non-physical eyes are taking it in, we can pause and notice if any hard sensations such as fear or judgement are arising…and we can choose to soften (both sets of eyes).
Soft eyes are silent transmitters of the universal light of love.
When we notice hard eyes in another, we can meet the hardness and we can transform the space between us without even speaking. We simply notice the energy, the tension, the judgement, the limitations and we soften our own eyes. That is all we must do - soften our own eyes. Try this and watch what happens. I think you will agree it is magic.
And please know that this magic is not limited to those who are in our physical presence or to those we know personally. We can do this with anyone and everyone in the world.
And, most importantly, we can soften the way we look at ourselves. When looking at oneself with soft eyes we reclaim the self-love and self-worth that the universe always intended us to have.
Love Patti
Hakalau Meditation
Most of us can easily access the feeling of “soft eyes” (indeed, we practice it every time we soften our gaze just prior to our meditation). As you are reading (or hearing) these words you are likely already experiencing a softening of the eyes.
I would like, now to guide you through a formal practice of eye softening called the Hakalau Meditation.
This technique, called ‘Hakalau,’ is often described as part of the ‘Huna System’ or a western label given to the mystical & spiritual practice of the Hawaiian mystics. Non-coincidentally, many of the techniques of the Kahunas share similarities with the practices and philosophies we see in Yoga.
Either sitting or standing rest your gaze comfortably on something in your field of vision or on a wall. Your gaze should rise slightly upwards so that you are looking almost through the space between your eyebrows.
With your gaze fixated on a particular spot, begin to release attachment to thoughts and feelings, deepening the focus on the spot. You can do this by relaxing the other muscles of your face, and slowing down your breath.
As you maintain focus on the single spot you will notice that your vision begins to expand outwards to the edges of your gaze, or your peripherals.
Still maintaining focus on the central spot, begin to shift more attention to your peripheral vision. Slowly expanding outward from the center point until you are no longer focusing on any one thing, but everything in your visual awareness simultaneously.
Maintain this state and observe the sensations and feelings you experience in your mind and body.
https://medium.com/the-way/expand-your-awareness-with-this-hawaiian-open-eye-meditation-aa918ee6b316
Note: NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) also uses the Hakalau Meditation and refer to it as “The Learning State”
“The very softest of things can ride
like a galloping horse
Through the very hardest of things
Like water through rock
Thus the invisible enters in”.
- Lao Tzu