The Eyes as the Window to the Soul

Have you ever felt unsure as to whether you were dreaming or awake? How about whether what you thought you were seeing was really there? In truth, we all feel things like this at times. And even if all you get baffled by is an odd sounding noise or a hand and finger shadow rabbit, reality can be quite an elusive thing. Especially if you are deeply engrossed in something. A movie. An infatuation. A deep sleep or a dream. In this, the final chapter of Plain Talk about Talk Therapy then, we're going to explore the experience we claim we are looking for in talk therapy. We're going to explore reality. And how what we visualize affects our perception of it. Are you sure what you saw in the shadows was not the boogie man? How can you be sure? Are you really sure? Let's see.

"Getting a Little Movement"
One of the more lasting conversations I've had in recent years was with a man named Tony. Tony is a chiropractor. At the time, I was on his table and had asked him what he looks for when he is adjusting people. His answer? He told me that all he tries to do is to "get a little movement."

Know this chiropractor is one of the smartest men I know when it comes to body mechanics. He also has a masters degree in engineering and extensive training in nutrition. Thus the simplicity of his comment surprised me. What stayed with me though and what has continued to amaze me is how Tony's comment so points to the strong parallels which exist between our two professions. And yes, the focus of our practices is obviously different; Tony focuses on the body and I, on the mind. Even so, when you boil down what we do to its simplest forms, our underlying goals are the same; we both look to get a little movement. Tony, in the body. And me, in the mind.

Where am I going with all this? It turns out that movement is one of the best ways to gauge peoples' progress in therapy. It is also one of the best ways to learn to see the mind body connection. Unfortunately, even knowing this may not enable you to see this movement. Why? Because while most people find it easy to see how the laws of physics apply to physical movement, for the most part, seeing how they apply to what is going on in the mind is not so easy. Unless of course you understand what I've drawn in this chapter's diagram; how the laws of physics intersect at the plane of the eye. In which case, seeing how the mind and body connect is a no brainer. No pun intended.

What does this diagram represent?

Start with this. Instead of focusing on testing for yourself whether these ideas are true, try clearing the workspace in your mind the same way you might clear a physical workspace. Next consider what it is we are about to explore. We are going to explore the mind body connection. How? By exploring how the laws of physics intersect at the plane of the eye.

What skills will we need? We'll obviously need to know a few things about how the laws of physics work. A few of the more basic concepts. Including that all laws in physics can be reduced to one rather deceptively simple category of statements; they are all descriptions of how something moving in time and space relates to and effects other things.

How do these descriptions reveal the mind body connection? It turns out that because our physical sensations are the source of much of what we mentally envision and imagine, that what we envision and imagine is governed by the same laws which govern these sensations. The laws of physics. Thus even when we imagine doing things which supersede the laws of physics, such as when we dream of flying and such, because we are being guided in part by what we physically sense, these laws still apply.

So yes. The laws of physics affect everything. Even what we dream. Not such a hard concept to take in really. What complicates this though is the idea that this process occurs in reverse as well; what we imagine creates sensation. Thus, no matter what we imagine, these imaginings create sensations. And because they do, the laws of physics govern even our imaginings.

This is why hearing a strange noise in the night may convince us someone is in the house. We get awakened by what we believe to be an actual noise. Then we imagine a stranger is in the house. Of course, then, as we strain to discern what it is we are hearing, our imaginations create more physical sensations in us. All of which combine and interact until we become unable to know fantasy from reality.

Here then is the main thing which makes it hard for us to test for reality. Even in talk therapy. Because sensation creates the mind and the mind creates sensation, we can have a heck of a hard time determining what is real. Both out in life and in the world of the therapy room. And lest you think this difficulty is limited to what we experience in our minds and bodies, please know this idea is one of the more debated ideas in science; to what degree does what we think affect the world around us. Including the laws of physics.

The good news though is that there are things we can know with certainty. Including about the laws of physics. The main thing being that these laws are what connect the body and the mind. Which is why you have heard me repeatedly call these laws, the psychophysical laws. Or the "mind body" laws if you will.

What makes this idea so important? Talk therapy claims to be helping us to know reality. Yet in general, talk therapy seems to ignore these laws. This despite the fact that if we accept that these two worlds; the world of the body and the world of the mind, are governed by the same set of laws, then we can begin to measure reality simply by measuring the degree to which the body and mind parallel each other's movements over time.

Not sure of what I'm saying here? I'm saying that while we experience our minds and bodies differently in many ways, in one aspect they never differ. They both ground themselves in physical sensation. Thus they both follow the same laws with regard to space, time, and movement. Moreover, the easiest way to measure this sameness is to observe the timing of when you sense things moving in space. In the body; physically. And in the mind; psychologically.

Interestingly enough, while this idea does not appear in writing until 1860 (Elemente der Psychophysik, Gustav Theodor Fechner, 1860), we can find this same parallel implied in writing several thousand years earlier. In what has become one of the most recanted wisdom's of all times; "as above, so below."

Not familiar with this saying? It is said to have come from something called the Emerald Tablet and is the core wisdom of a philosophy in existence around the time of Jesus. Hermetic Philosophy.

What is the Emerald Tablet? According to legend, it is a tablet said to have been discovered in a cave tomb clutched in the hands of the corpse of Hermes Trismegistus, an Egyptian priest and sage reputed to have been be one of the wisest men of antiquity. Legends differ on who discovered this tablet. One says it was Sarah, the wife of Abraham. Another says it was Apollonius of Tyana. Whatever the case, this tablet was supposed to contain the magical secrets of the entire universe. Inscribed in Phoenician. Unfortunately, while several arabic translations exist and a Latin translation from about, 1200 AD, none of these translations are identical and little on the Tablet appears to make sense.

Why mention this legendary tablet? Because this saying, "as above, so below," does indeed state one of the deepest secrets in our universe. What? The essential quality of what I see to be the consummate test for truth. The idea I refer to as "fractility."

What is fractility? My definition? It is a quality by which something has a geometrically recognizable pattern or patterns which always repeat differently regardless of scale. As opposed to the essential quality of linear geometry wherein something has a geometrically recognizable pattern or patterns which always repeat identically regardless of scale.

Why mention fractility? Because this chapter focuses on how we can know reality. And in our world, fractility is the only authentic test for truth. Thus if an idea is fractal, then it is one hundred percent true. Every oak leaf is a true oak leaf. Every snow flake a snow flake. Whereas if an idea is not fractal, while it may contain a partial truth, at best, it is only partially true. Thus a person may test as competent by getting all A's in school. Yet this same person may be unable to translate any of this into real world skills.

Okay. So if something has fractility, we can know it to be one hundred percent true. And if it does not then we can know that it is at least partially untrue. Doesn't the partial truth contained therein have value though?

Actually, other than as a coarse test for truth, most times, this kind of knowing is less valuable than being certain you know nothing. Why? Because you cannot know for sure which part is true and which is not.

Now take a minute to let this idea sink in.

Now let's come at this from a different angle.

We know with certainty that nothing which occurs in the natural world occurs in a linear fashion. For example, there are no naturally occurring straight lines. Nor are there any naturally occurring perfect geometric shapes. Despite our knowing this with certainty though, oddly, we continue to use linearity as the test for truth in everything from our sciences to our psychologies.

How does the saying, "as above, so below," apply to all this?

It turns out that the parallel I've been referring to throughout the book; the one between our bodies and our minds, is the only linearity in our world. To wit, there is a linear relationship between the laws which govern our physical world and the laws which govern our psyches. In other words, as go the laws which govern the world at large, so go the laws which govern us. Thus, as above, so below.

This means when we say in physics that time is relative to the observer, we are not only saying that moving at close to the speed of light changes how physical time passes. We are also saying that our sense of how long it takes for things to change inside us can vary. For example when astrophysicists posit how we might actually time travel, they are exploring relativity. And when we say there are times wherein being in love makes a minute feel like an hour and an hour feel like a minute, we are referring to the same laws.

Likewise, when we say in physics that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, we are referring to one of the more basic laws of our physical world. But when we say this, we might as well be saying that the laws of karma apply to physics, as in, what goes around, comes around, both for objects and for us.

Why makes such a big deal out of this parallel in a book on talk therapy? Just this. If you rely on a psychological truth for your means to get to know someone, then you are doomed to failure. Why? Because you are assuming the same linearity which makes most sciences fail more than succeed. However, if you learn the laws of physics and then seek parallel images for these laws in peoples' minds and bodies, then you'll be on a path which at least in theory can lead to truly knowing them. And everything else about reality and human nature.

What would be the best way to get onto this path? As I said, by using the laws of physics to find the parallels in how things move over time. Beginning with the first half of this cycle. How noticing physical movement leads to our thoughts and feelings.

In other words, the first thing to master in your journey toward knowing how reality works is to learn how noticing sensation (becoming aware of physical movement) affects what you think and feel. Moreover, this entire mastery begins with one simple idea; knowing how the two worlds, the world of the mind and the world of the body, intersect at the plane of the eye.

Do you think you know how this works already? You may. Just the same, let's look together.
[click here to read the rest of The Eyes as the Window to the Soul ]