The Mind Can Not See What It Does Not Know
And visa versa.
Sitting on the back porch, I kept glancing over to my right, where I could see a brownish “haze” under the weeping spruce tree. It kept distracting me because I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Thinking that the rain or the early morning light was playing tricks on my vision, I looked and looked and wondered why I had never seen a big brown bush or a lower dead limb on the tree.
I was distracted the entire time I sat there until I suddenly recalled that we had dumped forty tons of dirt there the day before, which we would be using to even out the ground in that area.
Immediately, my focus cleared, and I saw the big pile of dirt, no longer a brown “haze.”
Earlier that morning, looking out our front window, I saw a bush I had never seen before. It was dark, but still, this is a garden I work in every day.
How could there be a bush there? I knew that a big, blooming clump of chives had been there the day before.
Once I remembered the chives, I saw that it was not a new bush, but the clump of chives had spread out from the driving rain the night before.
Two reminders that the mind cannot see what it does not know.
This is good to know for two reasons.
First, if we want to see something, we must learn to see what is already there.
Second, if we do see something, we can rest assured that we already possess it because, once again, the mind does not see what it does not know.
How does this apply to everyday life?
Let’s take the first idea. If we want to see something, we must learn to see what is already there.
Yes, I assume everything is already present, and we don’t see it because we don’t know it.
This is a valid assumption because it is easily proven. From quantum physics to spiritual awareness, we know that the moment something is known or thought, it is.
Given this, what do we want to see that we are not seeing?
Let’s say we want to see more wealth in all its forms.
“In all its forms” is a key statement because that is where to start.
How many forms of wealth are there?
Is it just that green stuff we exchange and call money, or is it also the leaves on the trees, a neighbor’s kindness, a found treasure, a hug, a gift? Yes, each one of these symbols, and the infinite number of other symbols like this, are all wealth.
We must learn to observe wealth instead of shying away from it.
As we see wealth, acknowledge it, and become grateful for what we see, whether it appears as our own or another’s, the doors of perception begin to open, and wealth appears in all its forms and becomes visible and usable.
The “brown haze” transforms into a visible recognition of what is present.
The second idea follows the first.
If we have seen it, then it follows that we know it, which means it is ours now.
If we hunger, it is because we already know about food.
If we desire beauty, it is because we already know beauty.
If we long for love, it is because we already know love.
Once we accept this as a truth, the need for something no longer frightens us.
It encourages us to learn more about what we feel we need. It deepens our commitment to looking for, honoring, and understanding the true substance of what we want.
As we do this, our mind knows what to see and find. Not because we made something happen but because it has been revealed.
Once again, this perception shift reveals that what we need is already present but is often not exactly in the package we were looking for, which brings us back to our first idea.
We need to know something in order to see it.
While staining the deck, I sent Del into the garage to get the wood putty to fill the holes. When he didn’t return right away, I went to help him.
I found the wood putty in just a few seconds.
Why did I find it right away, and he didn’t? It’s not what you think.
It’s because I knew what the container looked like, and he was looking for the container it used to come in.
We looked in the same place, but his mind expected to see the wood putty one way, and mine expected to see it another.
Do you see the implications of this?
Yes, what “we perceive to be reality magnifies.”
We are responsible for expanding our perceptions, beginning with the reality we wish to live within. We constantly upgrade our perceptions through awareness and gratitude, and as a result, wealth in all its forms becomes visible.
Within this perception, there is no need for greed, panic, or fear—only grateful anticipation for the revelation of the abundance already present for everyone equally and consistently.
Our job then becomes one of learning about the substance of Spirit, opening our vision, shifting our point of view perception to one of infinite, intelligent Love, and our state of mind perception to gratitude for Its provision.
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern. -William Blake