what would it truly mean to observe?
well there would be attention
there would be curiosity
there would be amusement, enjoyment
what there wouldn’t be would be ME
there wouldn’t be “me”, in the observing, the act of observing
unless of course you were the subject of the observation
but if you weren’t — then you weren’t
not in part, not at all
if you’re not the subject then you shouldn’t be receiving attention
it would be a distraction
now,
of course we have it backwards
we observe — yet all we see is me, me
we instantly relate it to ME
we look how we could USE it, for the purpose of ME
we look how we could seize it, for ME
we compare it to ME
and even in noticing something, it’s filtered through ME,
“I saw it”
“I noticed this”
“I liked this”
this is of course poor observation, poor attention
one can imagine such observation being quite ineffectual, sometimes
when you’re looking at the thing, and at the ME — perhaps the ME stands in your view, sometimes
It would follow that if you really want to understand something — you must look at it with your full attention,
and with utmost clarity,
no prejudice
The problem of course is that we’re rather fucking self-interested
So when we look at something — we look at what we can gain from it
We measure whether it is a threat
Or even in moment of what would be considered curiosity — there’s still an element of self-pleasuring in it. It’s not a study, it’s merely entertainment. Once it bores us — we turn our eyes to something else
And of course all of that happens rather unconsciously
Meaning when you’re looking at something, you don’t actually monitor WHY you’re looking at it,
But the reason why is ALREADY THERE, even if you’re not fully aware of it
The consequence of this ignorant perception is of course that we eventually become blind
We lose the power of attention
The more self-centred we become — the more narrow our vision becomes
Until we see nothing new
And eventually we ask,
Why is the world so ugly?
Why is the world so unpleasant?
Why is the world so uninspiring?
Why does world WANT SO MUCH FROM ME?
This is why
It’s the way you observe
If you truly observed from the place of FREEDOM,
including FREEDOM from your own self,
then entire world would OF COURSE look utterly different
for NOTHING would have the same meaning assigned to it
-a person you don’t like would merely be another strange creature, gaping at you with a weird expression
-a car would be but a strange shining object, that’s moving really fast, for WHATEVER reason
-an apple would have perhaps a quality of scrumptiousness, that’s quite pristine and miraculous, really
-a tune would perhaps be strange noise, or strange calling, or strange, pleasing harmony
-a phone would be this odd diorama, a kind of box with a window into a kind of imitation of something that you kind of know to be real
-a text on that screen and someone’s face would be but this strange imitation of a real person wanting to do real things with you, using this strange verbal kind of communication to make real in your mind this stranger yet thing called “AN IDEA”, something you can’t even see and yet can PERHAPS CONCEIVE OF…
-….except you may as well NOT be able to conceive of it, not if you left all your ideas behind, for this act of pure perception — an a word “social liberalism” or “supervised learning” is more fanciful than meaningful
-or perhaps you should then reach within only as far as to retrieve that which is necessary to assign ANY meaning to those words — and then examine them with that same pristine quality
-in which case it’s still so strange, an IDEA which so compels someone, makes one talk about it, think about it, reason about it, collect evidence about it
THIS
is what perception can be
It doesn’t have to be
There’s work to be done, and you have to RELATE what you PERCEIVE to what you’re doing. That’s another story
But
PERHAPS,
Perhaps you are just interested on WHAT SOMETHING IS,
And
perhaps,
just perhaps,
you are already failing before you begin
you are already looking but at your own mind’s projections, and not at the thing itself
perhaps you should get out of your own way, your own view
and deconstruct everything again,
or rather reconstruct
just look with utter attention at thing before your eyes — and see it naked without all the context and meaning you assign to it,
then reconstruct the meanings
perhaps
perhaps you’ll se something new
wouldn’t that be wonderful