Brother Elias is in his room, with his back to you, singing a song he composed himself, entitled “Finding God”.
Where is He to be found?
If you look He’ll be around.
In a tree, in a brook,
In a flower, in every nook.
Time has passed, it flies by
And we still keep asking why?
Should it be just this way?
Every night? Every day?
When will we touch you? When will we feel?
That you are there? Oh so real?
But He says, I Am Here Now!
You Can Find Me And This Is How!
See the world, watch it move,
Time is sprinkling through the groove.
A flower that blooms, a bird that flies,
A river that babbles, a wind that sighs,
These are ME The Lord replies
You can but see with Childlike Eyes!
Brother Elias turns around and looks up at you, pausing midway in the process of solving a two dimensional puzzle.
Oh, sorry! I was so involved with singing my song about Finding God that I didn’t realise you were there. May I presume to ask what you thought of my creation? I hope you liked it. The words are especially important. But I hear you say you want to know more about why I composed this poem.
Well, I am not renowned as a poet, and it was a time before I was a member of this hermitage; I was returning from a night at the theatre, walking quietly through the pedestrianised part of the housing estate in which I lived when I coined the first few lines of verse. Once I arrived home, I had to put the words down onto paper, and the above ode was born.
It is a very simplistic view of life, but as real as any other. The key phrase for me is the last line - You can but see with Childlike Eyes! Watch a young child venturing out into the world at large, especially in the countryside, and you will see wonder and awe in the child’s eyes as he or she sees and touches aspects of nature for the first time. Watch and you will see podgy fingers try to grasp a flower which is just out of reach, or feet splodge in wet puddles lying by the roadside after a rainstorm. The round face becomes even rounder as the mouth turns from an “oo” shape to a large beaming smile. How often have you seen small children run towards a flock of pigeons pecking at some crumbs lying on the pavement, only to have the birds fly away in unison as they hear the sound of the child’s ungainly footsteps hastening every closer. The child’s face may be bewildered but it does not deter it from trying again, especially if the birds have settled onto the ground only a few yards away.
Mankind has tried to understand the things around it for millenia. At first in wonder and awe, but later rushing towards the unknown, undetered, even if the desired result is not achieved. We like to think we have solved many questions, but the reality is that the answers to questions often raise further, previously unasked, questions.
I have always wanted to understand what does not quite fit the “normal” orthodox understanding of life. In the past religion and magic were said to give the answers for most people; today it is politics and science. But do they give us the answers we really want? Perhaps they give us the answers the scientists say we want? This begs the question, could there be another way of finding the answers?
Of course, it could be that the answers to the questions we have raised have already been given! It could be that we need to look a little closer at what seems to be obvious, rather than create new situations to find our solutions. The words, “Can but see with Childlike Eyes!” may be the key. Children have played with toys and puzzles throughout the ages. We know that play can be educational. Could some of the ancient toys and puzzles be even more educational today than we previously suspected? Having contemplated this question I have come to the conclusion this is the case, and I want to show you why!
Human beings are not born with dimensional vision, they acquire it as they develop their eyes, and their spacial awareness. Many people say they “see” with their eyes, but actually they gain visual data through the eyes which is processed into an “image” in the brain, and this is especially true of dimensional imagery. We recognise what we see by remembering patterns, and we know we have seen a particular image before if our present visual data matches a pattern we have perceived before.
But spacial awareness is something else. We can detect small differences in visual data which our brains perceive as indicating something is at a particular distance in space, but you don’t need the visual data to perceive spacial dimensions in your mind. If you did blind people would not be able to move around in space, or perceive distance, the way they do. Yet sighted people rarely consider this point. Because they use the data that is inputted via their eyes, in conjunction with other mental processes, they assume they “see” with their eyes only. Only if they are suddenly plunged into darkness will they begin to use the other data that the mind utilises to ascertain the body’s place in space, and then discover, often to their surprise, that they are able to find their way around. The longer they are left in the dark, the easier it becomes. Perhaps we need to “blind” ourselves to some of our orthodox ideas about “life, the universe, and everything,” to enable us to “see” the truth that is always around us, that we do not consciously perceive!
As I said before, children are not born with spacial awareness, it has to be developed. There are many ways of doing this, but one method is to use a toy, or puzzle, to demonstrate spacial conceptions. One such puzzle, passed down from ancient times, is the Russian Doll. Only when we twist and break one in two do we discover there is another, smaller, one inside it. When we twist and break this one in two we find there is another, even smaller, one inside that. And so on, as long as the person who made it was able to fashion a doll, small enough to go inside, or large enough to go outside, keeping the proportions the same even if the overall size of the doll varied. It is a great way of utilising the least amount of space with the most amount of matter.
Chinese boxes illustrate the same principle, one inside another, inside another. I have seen a set of purses, put together in the same way, each inside the other. Each item, a finite item, but with space inside it for another similar finite item. No-one is aware of the other items, hidden away, unless the outer item is broken in some way. With a purse, it will be a side zip which breaks the outer seal; with a box it is a lid; with a doll it is the waistline. Each item is finite, yet the possible number of items being either inside or outside are infinite, as long as the creater of the system can fashion one small enough or large enough.
We see a set of Russian Dolls and we hurry on by, believing we have comprehended all that this toy can show us. Yes, if you break one there is room for another inside, and when you put them all back together you can only go as far as the number of dolls given to you. But supposing someone had decided to create something of a greater size and number? Supposing someone had decided to create a doll the size of the universe? How would we, such a small insignificant species, on an insignificant body of matter be able to comprehend this? How would we know? Perhaps by looking at smaller versions of the universe. Perhaps by seeing the proportions and patterns on a smaller scale, even smaller than we are ourselves.
Adults have always made smaller versions of things they see or use. We make model airplanes; scaled down versions of motor cars for children to use; dolls houses with tiny scaled down furniture; even scaled down versions of adults clothes are made for human children to wear. We have recognised for some time that everything is not the same size, and if we want to put something on, or create something for, someone who is of a smaller or larger size than the rest of us, then we must modify it so that it is in the correct proportions. If we could put a smaller person inside a larger person we would save a lot of space. But isn’t that what we do when we create a new human being? A human female grows a smaller version of homo sapien inside her own body! It starts off as a minute piece of matter, but once this smaller version - the baby - grows too big, it is out of proportion to the amount of sustaining capability of the outer body, so it comes out, and is a separated individual taking up its own space- it is born - and both humans are visible at the same time! No different really to having taken the Russian Dolls and separating the outer one away from the smaller inner one and standing them side by side!
So often I have been amazed at the questions, and the logic, of children, as they look in wonder and awe at the world around them. As babies they are like blank blotting paper, still fresh and clean, with no marks imprinted on them. As they grow, and develop, they make marks and impressions as they explore the world around them and the blotting paper absorbs the knowledge of those explorations, in time, eventually, becoming saturated with ink. Because of this limitation of space for recorded information we tend to “overwrite” certain experiences allowing us space to continue our explorations. It is easy to understand how, as individuals we would prefer to accept summarised information from other humans, utilising only a small amount of space so enabling one individual to use its own limited space for other, possibly different, explorations which are of interest to itself. The only problem with that is the dependence on the information given from the other person. How accurate is it? Has it been verified? How much of the information is coloured by the other person’s own blotting paper indentations (bias)? If we check the information is correct we end up using a similar amount of space to that used by the original source, and if we don’t check it, we cannot be sure that we have all the information we need.
When a child asks what at first may seem a silly question but in reality is one of the most profound, it is precisely because it has so little information. When we have a mind full of data, and little space left in which to manoeuvre it, we are more likely to rely on others for solutions to specific questions, and hope the solutions are correct. We certainly don’t have enough time, or inner space, to explore and then come up with profound questions or answers. We are too clogged, too polluted, with other data, and we find it difficult to know what to eject and what to keep.
It is this data which is growing inside of us, which is causing so much congestion and pollution within our brains, and by inference in the greater society. It is in danger of growing, out of proportion, too big, for its original mind, and we need to cut away - eject - some of the dross. Perhaps we should go back to thinking like a child, and let our minds reconsider the childlike questions we use to ask many thousands of years ago. We must also remember that our children may ask the same questions now, if we gave them the chance, but we tend to saturate their minds at a very early stage in their development and wonder why they lack certain knowledge and understanding! Perhaps if we allowed them time and space to develop at their own pace, and in their own way, we may find we progress further as a species and as individuals.
But such luxuries are denied our young. We have become old before our time. As a species we are lacking the foundation upon which we built our knowledge and our history. We have ejected the basic knowledge which kept us in touch with reality, and wandered blindly off into the darkness, losing sight of our spacial roots and hoping that something will come along to anchor us to the world once more, and with it light to allow us to see where we are and what we have done.
The trouble is we might not like what we see. Can we bear to see the truth? Often people find they don’t want to see the truth because it effects them emotionally, the pain is too great to bear. For them, they are not aware that there is a different truth. They are too frightened to allow their minds to comprehend it, for they fear the consequences. Children, in the early stages of development, have little fear, and are curious to gain knowledge, and learn truth. For them it is easy to accept the facts as they find them without fear. It is only later, when they learn that adults are afraid of certain things, that they become afraid themselves.
In many instances, if they are to survive, it is right that children should learn caution about certain dangerous situations, and one way of doing this is in the earliest stages is to instigate fear. It takes time for a child to learn enough language to understand when they are being told something is dangerous. If their language comprehension is poor, talking alone will not help them survive. Something else is necessary in the early limited comprehension years, and that something is an emotion called “fear”. The speed with which it manifests itself, the intensity which it attains within a short time, can teach the child, or the adult, something very vital about a new or unknown situation. But we need to keep fear within proportion. Any emotion which grows too intense or too strong is a danger to the rest of the mind and body. Proportion is the key to everything.
Inside our bodies is a small universe, with many parts to it. Although the brain carries out many functions on a biological level, keeping the body working together as one unit, the conscious mind is not always aware of this. The conscious mind is concentrating on the world outside the body. Data from the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the sense of touch, are processed in the conscious mind, telling the body what is outside of itself, keeping it abreast of where it is at and what is happening to it. But what do we do if the conscious mind becomes saturated with data, clogging up the mind so that it cannot function as efficiently as it should? We begin to make mistakes, not just now and again, but regularly. We become dysfunctional, unable to process information as we used to do.
Could it be that as a species, as a society, we have also become saturated with data? Could we be making too high a proportion of mistakes? Are we functioning as efficiently as we should? Could we be dysfunctional as a society? Could we be relying on technology too much, because we are incapable of doing the task ourselves? Are we doing things the easiest way because we are lazy or because we are tired? Should we be looking for things that are the simplest way to do things instead?
These are questions we should be asking ourselves, both as individuals and as a society. Our mental perception of the world around us is flawed, and until we recognise this we will never see either of the illusionary views presented by the ancient adage “You can’t see the wood for the trees”. Do we mean the stem of one individual tree (the wood) or a group of trees (the wood)? Our spacial perspective changes depending upon the mental image we hold. As adults we believe we have already defined our spacial parameters, but we should be prepared to amend them at any time, just as children do. Unfortunately, we rarely leave enough space within our memory to allow for this, and are stuck with the same parameters time after time, even when they are not truly appropriate any more. In fact, as we get older we tend to limit the movements of our bodies and so limit the spacial parameters even further.
The truth is, we need space to explore the world around us, in a physical way, not inside a cocoon such as a car, boat, train, or plane. We need to feel physical contact at our leisure, not at a pace so fast that the data from the contact point never fully registers with the brain before the next contact data superimposes itself on top of the first. Children, when they explore, do so at a slower pace, usually because their movements have not been fully co-ordinated into smooth, even, fast paced actions. Once the smooth actions do occur then they must be repeated regularly, otherwise the actions will be lost, and may never regain its original efficiency. Children play, move, explore, more than adults. They don’t have the responsibilities or additional tasks that adults have, so they have the time to practice their actions until they are as smooth, even, and fast paced as the best of adults.
When it comes to exploring the mind, adults need to take a leaf out of their children’s books. They need to take time to explore rather than plod through repetitive, sometimes unnecessary, thinking processes. Ideas may appear to come in a flash, but the ideas are useless unless time consuming, calculations and comparisons are determined also. Only by doing this will the idea become more than a mere flash of inspiration and become a solid, constructive mental concept which can be transferred into a useful practical material form - a fact! Yet once this fact has become a reality, it needs to be constantly checked for validity against a background of changing ideas and concepts. What was true yesterday is not always true today. If something is no longer true, could it affect other facts and make them no longer applicable? Children have this problem all of the time, and they cope with it extremely well. So why don’t adults?
Perhaps becasue we tend to rely on other people’s truths, and accept them, without question. We assume things are right, just because we are told they are. We don’t have time or the inclination to find out if what we are being told is correct or not. We allow ourselves the liberty of trusting, believing, accepting, what others tell us. We like to believe we have learnt all there is to learn about a subject in the past, and don’t want to go over old ground, even if there may be new facts about it. Pity! We are doing ourselves a disservice as a species. Instead of learning we are labouring; instead of exploring we are confining; instead of improving we are deteriorating.
The enigma is that it is children, not adults, who have the answers. Children are not saddled with preconceived ideas or prejudices. They only gain them when adults impose their wills and ideas on the children. It is we, the adults, who should be listening not talking. It is we who should be helping not hindering. We should be enlightening not darkening. We should be expanding our children’s horizons not limiting them. But then we are doing these things to ourselves, so assume our children should suffer the same fate. Look to the children. Think in the way they do. Only then will mankind regain its lost youth!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I must solve this two dimensional puzzle. I always find it strange that the completed picture seems complete, yet there is this empty space left in one corner which I long to fill, but can’t, because all of the pieces have been used up. If I had an extra piece I would not be able to move the rest of the pieces around to make up the proper picture, but when you see this odd square with an empty space it doesn’t seem quite right, does it? I wonder if the empty space could be what helps matter move throughout the universe?
Goodbye. Thank you for calling.
Brother Elias returns to his two dimensional puzzle oblivious to the outside world, enraptured with the simplicity, and complexity, of the toy.