We have lost the relationship between what we see with our eyes and the registration of it as an aspect of our own True Nature because we don't see what we see; instead we think about what we see. And when we think about what we see, what we receive is the content of thought that has stored that experience. We don't receive what is real, alive, changing, creative, and forceful. Instead, we dine upon ourselves, and it is a fool's feast.
There is one great principle that underpins a common thread found running through all world religions, because within it we find the secret foundation of all true religious experience. In Psalms 46:10 we are told, "Be still and know that I am God." Allow me to paraphrase this Divine invitation and ultimate spiritual instruction.
Be still: Cease from thinking about what you see, and know -- without thinking about it -- that no real distance exists between the seer and the seen. The beauty or ugliness you see, near or far, is none other than Self.
and know: Realize that there is no real distinction between what you perceive about something and what you receive from it in the same moment. Life is a reflection of the consciousness that reveals it. Nothing else exists outside of this.
that I am God: I am not just the life source of all that has been or ever will be seen, but I am the seer as well that dwells within you. Your True Self is seer and seen at once and "that"... am I, and more.
What this teaches us is that a direct relationship exists between our potential to be still and what is possible for us to receive and realize about ourselves in that stillness. And there is no limit to these interior discoveries, because the depth and breadth of our True Self is without boundaries of any kind.