VBT – Meditation 31.0
Look At An Object As A Whole
LOOK UPON A BOWL WITHOUT SEEING THE SIDES OR THE MATERIAL. IN A FEW MOMENTS BECOME AWARE.
Look at anything. A bowl or any object will do, but look with a different quality. LOOK UPON A BOWL WITHOUT SEEING THE SIDES OR THE MATERIAL. Look upon any object, but with these two conditions… Do not look at the sides, look at the object as a whole. Ordinarily, we look at parts.
It may not be done so consciously, but we look at parts. If I look at you, first I see your face, then your torso, and then your whole body. Look at an object as a whole; do not divide it in parts. Why?
Because when you divide something in parts, the eyes have an opportunity to move from one part to another. Look at a thing as a whole. You can do it.
Try it. First look at a thing moving from one fragment to another. Then suddenly look at this thing as a whole; do not divide it. When you look at a thing as a whole, the eyes have no need to move. In order not to give any opportunity for movement, this has been made a condition: look at an object totally, taken as a whole. And secondly, without seeing the material. If the bowl is of wood, do not see the wood: just see the bowl, the form. Do not see the substance.
It may be of gold, it may be of silver – observe it. Do not look at the material of which it is made, just look at the form. The first thing is to look at it as a whole. Secondly, look at it as a form, not as a substance. Why? Because substance is the material part, form is the spiritual part, and you are to move from the material to the non-material. It will be helpful.
Try it. You can try it with anyone. Some man or some woman is standing: look, and take the man or woman wholly into your look, totally into it. It will be a weird feeling in the beginning because you are not habituated this way, but it is very beautiful in the end. And then, do not think about whether the body is beautiful or not, white or black, man or woman. Do not think; just look at the form. Forget the substance and just look at the form.
In a few moments become aware. Go on looking at the form as a whole. Do not allow the eyes any movement. Do not start thinking about the material. What will happen? You will suddenly become aware of yourself. Looking at something, you will become aware of yourself. Why? Because for the eyes there is no possibility to move outwards. The form has been taken as a whole, so you cannot move to the parts. The material has been dropped; pure form has been taken. Now you cannot think about gold, wood, silver, etc.
A form is pure form. No thinking about it is possible. A form is just a form; you cannot think about it.
If it is of gold, you can think of many things. You would like it, you may like to steal it, or to do something with it, or to sell it, or you can think about the price – many things are possible. But of pure form, no thinking is possible. Pure form stops thinking. And there is no possibility of changing from one part to another; you have taken it as a whole.
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