The Temple of Clear Vision: Finding Ourselves in Every Gaze
When we “con-template,” we become one in the Temple.
Physiologically, gazing into the distance and gazing inward look the same. A person gazing into the distance has a relaxed yet focused expression — just like the person gazing inward. Their eyes may appear slightly unfocused as if they are seeing something far away, often beyond the visible.
Both are unaware of their immediate surroundings. Both seem daydreaming and deep in thought. What are they seeing? A person standing at the seashore and gazing into the hazy distance may look like they are peering into the horizon, but they are really looking inward. We like to gaze into the distance because we see ourselves there.
Looking into the distance and looking inward is the same looking. As Meister Eckhart said,
The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.
When I see God, I see myself. When I see myself, I see God. The distance is in me, and I am in the distance. Standing at the mountaintop, surveying the vast expanse all around me, I look at God, and God looks at me. It’s one gaze, one knowing. I can feel it. I love gazing into the distance from a mountaintop because I want to see myself.
Gazing inward is the same process as gazing outward. When we look inward we don’t look at anything in particular. We just look. We look THROUGH, not AT. We grasp the whole. We grasp the harmony and oneness of all things. We see unity in multiplicity. We don’t deny the differences between things, but we don’t fragment the world into separate pieces.
When we recognize the distance within and without, we recognize ourselves. We are fractals of the Whole. Everything inside us is outside us too. Everything outside us is inside us too. The far and near are one. When two lovers look at each other, all distance disappears. The two become one in the act of seeing. Their eyes are one eye. It’s one knowing and one love.
The mystery of gazing into the distance and gazing inward is the mystery of recognizing ourselves in all things. As Thomas Merton said,
“We are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are.”
The Latin root of the word “contemplari” from which we derive “contemplation” literally means “with” and “temple” (con — “with”; templum — “temple”). The word “templum” meant a “sacred space for observation.”
When we gaze into the distance, we gaze into the sacred space of God’s Temple. When we gaze inward, we gaze into the same sacred space. We are the temple. The “con” part of contemplation represents Love as the binding force behind all things. Love gives us the ability to see clearly. It opens our eyes to see ourselves in the Other.
When we “con-template,” we become one in the Temple. We don’t gaze at anything in particular. The Temple is not a place to look at things but through things. In God’s sacred Temple, everything is an icon. When we contemplate, our gaze penetrates through all things and binds them all together in perfect unity.
“[Love] binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14.
Thank you Eugene
Once again just where my foot needed its next stepping stone
There is a lovely English story which perfectly mirrors the Eckhart bringing it into the realm of the glorious Ordinary
A Vicar noticed an elderly man could be found each day sat quietly in his church
After some time he finally enquired what was it that drew the man back each day
He said, “Oh, I just sit here and smile at God, and God smiles back at me”
It’s enough :)
Deep but I love it!